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CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. 



Deiigntiui Bible stories 



FOR OUR 



Young Christian Eneleavorers, 

And All Who Believe in the Blessed Truths Set Forth in Holy 

Writ, and who Delight in the Harvelous Stories of the Book 

of Books. Especially adapted to the use of Homes, 

Sunday Schools and Epworth Leagues. 




Embellished with a Wealth of Illustrations in Wood Engraving, Depicting Bible 
Scenes, with Eight Specially Designed Lithographs in Ten Colors. 

S EDITED BY 

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Assisted by REV. HOYT BAILEY. 



Copyright, 1896. All Rights Reserved. 



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OLD TESTAMENT STORIES. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



1. The Creation g 

2 .The Fall of Man. « 13 

3. Cain and Abel 17 

4. The Flood 22 

5. Abraham, or the Promised Land . . . 31 

6. Abraham 15 

7. Abraham, or the Trial of Love 38 

8- Jacob or the Heavenly Dream . 42 

9. Jacob, or the Long Journey 51 

10. Jacob, or the Meeting 55 

11. Joseph, or the Pit 60 

[2. Joseph, or the Slave 66 

[3. Joseph or the Prisoners . . 70 

14. Joseph, or the Butler and Baker 72 

[5. Joseph, or the Release 76 

(6. Joseph, or the Ruler of Egypt Si 

17. Joseph, or the Feast. . 86 

r8. Joseph, or the Forgiving Brother 9- 

19. Joseph, or the Long-lost Son 96 

20. Moses or the Basket of Bulrushes 100 

21. Moses, or the Pious Choice. . 107 

22. Moses, or the Burning Bush . . in 

23. Moses, or the First Plagues of Fgypt 117 

24 Moses, or the Last Plagues . 121 

25. Moses, or the Red Sea 127 

26. Moses, or the Manna and the Rock 133 

27. Moses, or Mt. Sinai 137 

28. Moses, or the Golden Calf 142 

29. Moses, or the Tabernacle. ... 148 

30. Moses, or the Priests 152 

■21. Moses, or the Journeys of th ; Israelites. . . 156 

32. Moses, or the Twelve Spies . 158 

33. Moses, or the Sin of Moses ard Aaron. ... 162 

34. Moses, or the Serpent of Biass 165 

3.S. Moses, or the Death of Moses 16S 

36. Joshua or Rahab 173 

37. Joshua, or the River Jordan T 77 

38. Joshua, or the Walls of Jericho. ....... 182 

39. Joshua— His Death ... 187 



40 

41. 

42. 

43- 
44- 

45- 
46. 

47- 

48. 

49. 
50. 
= 1 

52. 
53- 
54- 

55- 
56. 

57- 
58. 

59- 
60. 

61. 

62 

63. 

64. 

65. 
66. 

67. 
63. 
69 
70. 

7i. 

72. 

73 
74 
75- 
76. 



Samuel, or ihe Pious Mother ' 190 

Samuel, or the Little Prophet . 195 

Samuel, or the rk in Battle .• . . . ig8 

Samuel, or the G d Dagon 201 

Saul, or the King 205 

Saul, or the Disobedient Deed. . . . 2 S 

David, or the Young Shepherd 211 

David or the Harp . m 213 

David, or the Giant Goliah 215 

David, or the Javelin 227 

David, ot the Cave 226 

David, or the Spear. 230 

David, or the Promise Fulfilled 233 

David or the Ark on Zion 2^7 

David, or Uriah's W ife 241 

David, or the Punishment 246 

David or the O.k-tree. ... ....... . 250 

David, or the Farewell 254 

Solomon, or the Wise Choice 256 

Solomon c r the Temple . 259 

Solomon, or the Queen's Visit 263 

Solomon or the Idols 267 

Jeroboam or the Dried up Hand 269 

Elijah, or the, Ravens 271 

Elijah, or the Widow 2" T 4 

Elijah, or the Two Altars 278 

Elijah, or the Rain 284 

Elijah, "or the Call < f Elisha . . 288 

Elij ih, or the Vineyard of Naboth . 291 

Elijah or the Three Captains 295 

Elijah, or the Chariot of Fire 298 

Elisha, or the liears. ... .. 301 

El.sha, or the Little Room 303 

Elisha, or the Little Maid 309 

Hezekiah, or the King who Trusted in God 314 
Nebuchadnezzar, or the Golden Image. . . . 316 
Belshazzar, or the Writing on the Wall. . .. 320 



OLD TESTAMENT STORIES. 

CHAPTER 1. 

THE CREATION. 

My Dear Children : I know that you have heard that- 
God made the world. A man could not make such a world 
as this. 

Men can make many things, such as boxes and baskets 
Suppose you were to shut a man up in a room which was 
empty and say, "You shall not come out till you have 
made a box." Would the man ever come out? No, never 
A man could not make a box, unless he had something to 
make it of. He must have some wood, tin, pasteboard, or 
something. But God had nothing to make the world of 
He only spoke, and it was made. 

Making things of nothing is called "creating;" No one 
can create anything but God. 

God is called the Creator because He created all things 
There is only one Creator. Angels even cannot create things 
They could not create one drop of water, or one little fly. 

God was six days in creating the world. 

On the first day, God said: "Let there be light;" and 
there was light. And God called the light Day, and the 
darkness Night. 

On the second day, God spoke again, and there was 
water very high ; that water is called the clouds. There 
was also water very low. There was nothing but water 
to be seen. God filled every place with air ; but you know 
the air cannot be seen. 



10 



THE CREATION. 



On the third day, God spoke, and the dry land appeared 
from under the water; and the water ran down into one 
deep place. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters 
Seas. We walk upon the dry land. We cannot walk upon 
the sea. God spoke, and things grew out of the earth. 
Grass and corn, and trees and flowers. 

On the fourth day, God spoke, and the sun and moon 
and stars were made. God ordered the sun to come every 




No. 5. Fifth Day of Creation. 



morning, and to go away in the evening. It is best that it 
should be dark at night, when we sleep. But God lets the 



THE CREATION, 



11 




No. 6. Sixth Day of Creation. 

moon shine, and the stars also ; so that if we go out in the 
night, we often have a little light. There are more stars than 
we can count. 

On the fifth day, God began to make things that are 
alive He spoke and the water was filled with fishes, and 
birds flew out of the water, and perched upon the trees. 

On the sixth day, God spoke, and the beasts came out of 
the earth ; lions, sheep, cows, horses, as well as all kinds of 
creeping things, such as bees, ants, and worms. 

At last God made a man. God made man's body of 
the dust, and then breathed into him. The man had a soul 



12 THE CREATION. 

as well as a body. So the man could think of God. And 
afterward God made the woman from a piece of the flesh 
and bone from the man's side. 

God gave all the other creatures to Adam and Eve ; 
He blessed them, and put them into the garden of Eden, 
and told Adam to take care of the garden. 

When God had finished all His works, He saw that 
they were good. He was pleased with the things He had 
made. They were all beautiful. The light was glorious ; 
the air was sweet ; the earth was lovely, clothed in green ; 
the sun and moon shone brightly in the heavens ; the birds 
and beasts and all the living creatures were good and happy; 
and Adam and Eve were the best of all, for they could think 
of God and praise Him. 

You know there are seven days in the week. Now, on 
the seventh day God did not make anything ; He rested from 
all His works. He called the seventh day His own day, 
because He rested on it. This is the reason people rest on 
the seventh day, and call it God's day. It is the Sabbath-day. 



r 



CHAPTER II. 

THE SIN OF ADAM. 

You remember that God put Adam and Eve in a pretty 
garden. There they lived very happily. They were kind to 
each other; were never sick nor in pain. Adam worked in 
the garden, but not so hard as to tire himself. His work 
was pleasant, for it was never too hot nor too cold, and there 
were no weeds nor thistles growing. 

There was one tree of which Adam might not eat. The 
name of the tree was: The tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil. 

God said, that if Adam ate of it, he should die. Adam 
and Eve might eat of all the other trees in the garden. 

They loved God. He was their friend, and used to walk 
and talk with them. 

You know there are a great many wicked angels; one of 
them is called Satan. This wicked angel wished to make 
them unhappy, so he thought : I will try and persuade them 
to eat that fruit which God has told them not to eat. 
So Satan put on the body of a serpent, and came into the 
garden. 

He saw Eve, and pretended to be kind, and said: Why 
do you not eat of the fruit? 

But she said : God has told us not to eat of that fruit ; 
if we do, we shall die. 

But the serpent said: No, you shall not die, but this 
fruit will make you wise like God. 

13 



14 



THE SIN OF ADAM. 



The woman was afraid to eat; but she looked, and 
thought the fruit nice; she looked again, and thought it 
pretty. So she took the fruit and ate it, and gave some 
to Adam. 

By eating they became sinful ; they knew they had done 




No. 7. The Temptation. 

wrong ; they were afraid of seeing God. Soon they heard 
His voice in the garden, and they went and hid themselves 
among the thick trees, that grew all over the garden. But 
they did not hide them from God. 

God called Adam, and said : Adam, where art thou ? 




Adam and Eve. 



IS 



16 THE SIN OF ADAM. 

Then Adam said : I was afraid, and hid myself. 
Then God said : Have you eaten of that tree ? 
Then Adam said : The woman gave me of the tree, and 

I did eat. 

God said to the woman: What is this that thou hast 

done? 

And she said : The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. 

God was angry with them all, but most of all with the 
serpent. God said to him : You shall always crawl on the 
ground, and eat dust. 

Then God said to the woman : You shall often be sick, 
and Adam shall be your master, and you must obey him. 

And God said to Adam : You shall work hard, and dig 
the ground; thorns and thistles shall grow; you shall have 
bread to eat, but you shall be obliged to work so hard that 
drops of sweat shall stand upon your forehead ; you shall be 
sad while you live, and at last you shall die ; your body was 
made of dust, and it shall turn into dust again. 

How sad Adam and Eve must have felt when they heard 
this. But this was not all; they were not allowed to stay in 
the pretty garden. God drove them out, and would not let 
them come into the garden again ; so He sent an angel with 
a fiery sword to stand near it. 



CHAPTER III. 



CAIN AND ABEL. 



After Adam and Eve were turned out of the garden, they 
had two little children — Cain and Abel. 

Cain was wicked like Satan, but Abel was good. Abel 
was always sorry for his sins, and asked God to forgive him. 

Cain and Abel had to work hard like Adam their father. 
Cain dug the ground and planted trees. Abel took care 
of sheep ; he was a shepherd. 




ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE EXPULSION. 

17 ' 



18 



CAIN AND ABEL. 



God did not walk and talk with people then, as He had 
done in the garden; but He spoke sometimes, and allowed 
people to pray to Him. 

God wished them always to remember Him, so He taught 
them a way of keeping it in their minds. 




SACRIFICES OF CAIN AND ABEL. 



He told them to pile up large stones— this heap was 
called an altar— then to put some wood upon the altar, and 
take a lamb, or a kid, and bind it with a rope to the altar ; 
then to take a knife and to kill the lamb ; and then to burn it 
Doing this was called " offering a sacrifice." 




CAIN, 



19 



t . ' 



20 CAIN AND ABEL. 

When people did this, God wished them to think how 
He would one day let His Son die for their sins. 

Abel brought lambs, and offered them up to God; and 
Abel thought of God's promise; so God was pleased with 
him. But Cain did not obey God, but brought fruit instead 
of a lamb; so God was displeased with Cain, and did not 
like his sacrifice. 

Then Cain was very angry, and hated Abel, because he 
was good, and because God loved him best. 

Then God said: Why are you angry? If you will love 
and serve me, I shall be pleased, but if not, you shall be 
punished. 

Still Cain went on in wickedness. Now hear what he did 
at last. One day he was talking with Abel in a field, when 
he rose up and killed him. 

Abel was the first man that ever died. You see Cain 
began by hating Abel, and ended by killing him, though he 
was his brother. 

Soon Cain heard the voice of God calling. God said : 
Where is your brother Abel? 

1 know not, answered wicked Cain ; am 1 my brothers 
keeper? 

But God said : 1 have seen your brother's blood upon the 
ground; and you must be punished. You shall leave your 
father and mother, and wander about on the earth. 

Cain said : My punishment is greater than I can bear. 

But he went and lived a great way off, and built houses 
for himself and his children. 

So Adam and Eve lost both their sons in one day ; Cain 



CAIN AND ABEL. 



21 



went a great way off, and Abel died. How they must have 
wept as they put dear Abel in the ground. But they must 
have wept still more to think that Cain was so wicked. 

But God had pity on Adam and Eve, and gave them 
another son, who was good; he was called Seth. 

The children of Seth feared God ; and God loved them, 
and called them His children. 




CHAPTER IV. 



THE FLOOD. 



Cain had a great many children ; Seth had a great many 
children. 

At last Adam and Eve died, and Cain died, and Seth died ; 
but still there were a great many people in the world. 




NOAH BUILDING THE ARK. 



At first some were good, but at last they all were wicked, 
except one man : his name was Noah. 



22 



x 




THE ARK. 



23 



24 THE FLOOD. 

God was very angry with the wicked people, and 
determined to punish them. 

God said to Noah, I will make it rain so much that all 
people shall be drowned, except you, and your wife, and 
your children. 

Then God told Noah to make a great ark. 

An ark is like a covered boat or ship. Noah made a very 
great ark, which would swim upon the top of the water, when 
God should drown the wicked people. 

Noah made the ark of wood, cut down trees, and cut 
boards, and then fastened them together. He made one door 
in the ark, and one little window at the top. 

Then he told the people that God was going to drown the 
world, and advLed them to leave off their wickedness. 

But they would not mind. They went on eating and 
drinking, not thinking of God, or trying to please Him. 

God did not choose that all the beasts, birds and insects 
should be drowned ; so he told Noah to get some birds, some 
beasts, and some insects of every sort, and to brii g them all 
into the ark. God could make all these animals go quietly in. 
Noah put corn, fruit and grass into the ark, for them to eat. 

So Noah got some birds of every sort; doves, ravens, 
eagles, sparrows, larks, robins, and many others, and they 
flew in at the window. He also got some beasts of every 
kind, sheep, horses and dogs ; and he got insects of every 
kind, butterflies, ants and bees. 

All these went into the ark ; for God made them gentle 
and obedient. Then Noah himself went in, with his wife, 
his three sons, and their wives. Eight people in all w T ere in 




RETURN OF THE DOVE. 



25 



26 THE FLOOD. 

the ark. But Noah did not shut the door : God shut the 
door, and Noah knew that he must not open it till God 
bade him. - 

Then it began to rain. It rained day and night. How the 
wicked people must have wished that they had minded Noah ! 
If they climbed trees, the water soon reached to the tops; 
if they went up high mountains, the water rose as high as 
they; for it rained forty days and forty nights. All beasts 
and birds and men and children died, except those that 
were in the ark. 

At last nothing was to be seen but water, and the ark 
floating upon the top of the water. Noah lived in the ark 
almost a whole year. 

A long while after it had left off raining, Noah wished to 
know whether the waters were dried up. He went among 
his birds and choosing a raven, let it out of the window. A 
raven is a fierce bird. It did not like the ark ; though there 
were no trees to-be seen, nothing but water, yet the raven 
would not go back to Noah, but went on flying night an J 
day over the water. 

When Noah saw that the raven did not come back, he 
went among his birds, and chose a dove. A dove is a gentle 
bird. Noah put it out at the window; and when it saw 
nothing but water, the dove came back. Noah knew when 
his bird came back — it pecked at the window — and he put 
out his hand and pulled it in. 

Noah waited seven days, and then he sent the dove out 
again ; and this time the dove saw some trees. Yet the dove 
did not stay, but plucked off a leaf with its beak, and came 



THE FLOOD. 



2? 



back. Noah must have loved his good little dove for coming 
back to him again. 

Noah waited seven days more, and then he sent out the 




COMING OUT OF THE ARK. 



dove again, and this time it did not come back. Now Noah 
knew that the earth was dry, but he waited in the ark till 
God told him to go out. 



28 



THE FLOOD. 



At iast God said : Go out of the ark, you and your wife, 
your three sons and their wives, and the birds, the beasts, 
the insects, and all the creeping things. 

When the door was open, the beasts came out. How 
glad the sheep must have been to lie down again upon the 
soft grass, and the goats to climb the high hills. 

When the window was open, the birds flew out. How 
glad they must have been to perch again among the trees. 




MT. ARARAT. 



Noah saw all the green hills and fields again; but where 
were all the wicked people? He would never see their faces 
again. 

Noah remembered God's goodness in saving him from 
being drowned. He made a heap of stones for an altar; he 
took some beasts and birds, and offered a sacrifice to God. 

Then God made a kind promise to Noah. He said: I will 




NOAH'S SACRIFICE. 



29 






30 



THE FLOOD. 



never drown the world again. When it rains, do not think 
there will be a flood. Look up in the sky after the rain, and 
you will see a bow. That shall be the sign that I remember 
my promise. 

What beautiful colors a rainbow has. It puts us in, mind 
of Gods kind promise not to drown the world any more. 




ffi's2* ar 



TRAINED DOVE. 



CHAPTER V. 



ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED LAND. 

Noah's sons had many children, and they had many 
children, until at last there were a great many people in the 
world. These people were bad. They did one very wicked 
thing. They cut down trees, and made the wood into little 




images like dolls, and kneeled down and prayed to the images, 
and said : These images are our gods. 

All of them spoke one language. But they grew to think 
less and less about God, and finally resolved to build a great 
tower, and in this way make themselves a great name. 

So they laid the foundation of an enormous tower, and 
built upon it until it was very high. But it was never finished, 
for God was not pleased, and he confused their language sg 
they could not understand each other. 

31 



32 



ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED LAND. 




The name of the tower was Babel, 
which means confusion. There are 
ruins to this day near the river Euphra- 
tes, which are thought to be those of 
the Tower of Babel. 

Most of the people in the world 
worshiped idols, instead of the true 
God. Sometimes these idols were 
made of wood and sometimes of stone, 
or silver, or gold. 

God looked down from heaven, and 
saw the people worshiping idols, and 
He was very angry. 

Then God said : I will choose one 
man, and teach him to love and be my 
servant. Now there was a man called 
Abraham. His father and his friends 
worshiped idols. God said to Abraham : Leave your own 
home and friends, and go to a country which 1 will show 
you ; and 1 will bless and take care of you. 

Abraham did not know where God would tell him to go, 
yet he went because he was obedient. 

Abraham had a wife called Sarah, whom he loved very 
much. Sarah went with him. He took some sheep, cows and 
servants. 

There were very few houses to be seen ; only fields and 
trees. Abraham slept in a tent. He made the tent with long 
sticks, covering it with skins of beasts. 

He could move his tent from place to place ; over high hills 




BUILDING BABEL. (AFTER NOAH.) 
33 



34 



ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED LAND. 



and wide rivers. At last he camj to a beautiful country called 
Canaan, full of trees, flowers, grass and corn. This was the 
place that God chose for him to live in. 

Sometimes he made a heap of stones, called an altar, and 
offered sacrifices to God. Abraham never worshiped idols ; but 
till the people in Canaan did. 

God often spoke to Abraham, and said : I will bless you and 
hike care of you. God was pleased that Abraham had left his 
own home when He told him to, without asking a questi >n. 




ANIMALS USED FOR SACRIFICE". 



CHAPTER VI. 

ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED CHILD. 

Abraham and Sarah lived in a tent in the land of Canaan, 
They had no little child. Abraham was very old, and Sarah was 
very old too. They were both much older than your grand- 
father and grandmother. Abraham was almost one hundred, 
and Sarah was almost ninety. 

One night God said to Abraham: Come out and look up 
to the sky. The sky was full of stars, more than could be 




THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM. 
35 



36 ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED CHILD. 

counted. God said: You shall have a great many grandchildren 
and great-grandchildren, and they shall have more children, and 
they too, shall have more children, till there are as many people 
as there are stars in the sky; and they shall live in the land of 
Canaan, and the wicked people shall be turned out. 

Now Abraham had not even one little child ; yet he believed 
that God would do as He had promised. 

One day Abraham was sitting in his tent. It was about 
twelve o'clock, and very hot. He looked up, and saw three 
men. He ran to meet them, and said : Pray come and rest 
yourselves, and let me bring a little water to wash your feet, 
and a little bread for you to eat. 

. These men were angels, though they looked like men. 
They had come from heaven with a message. Angels are often 
near us, though we cannot see them. 

The angels sat outside under the tree. Sarah was in the 
tent. Abraham said to Sarah : Take some flour, make some 
cakes, and bake them quickly. Then Abraham took a fat 
calf, and said to a servant: Kill it, and roast it quickly. 

When it was ready the three men began to eat. 

While they were eating, they said to Abraham: Where 
is Sarah ? Abraham said : She is in the tent. Then one of 
the men said: Sarah shall have a son. 

Sarah heard what the angel said, and she could not believe 
that she would really have a child given to her, now she was 
so very old ; so she laughed to herself. 

The next year Sarah's little son was born. His name was 
Isaac. He was a good child, and God loved him. Abraham 
and Sarah were much pleased with their little son. 




f'% 



..J-**&&: 



:'l£m~°. 



THE ANGEL APPEARING TO ABRAHAM. 




CHILDREN OF BETHEL. 



37 



. CHAPTER VII. 

ABRAHAM, OR THE TRIAL OF LOVE. 

At last, Isaac grew up to be a man. He also lived in a tent 
They all three loved God, and loved each other very much. It 
was a happy little family. 

Abraham was a very rich man. He had cows, horses, 
sheep and goats, tents and servants, silver and gold. But he 
had one thing that he loved more than these. That was his 
son, his dear son Isaac. 

Yet there was one Being whom Abraham loved even better 
still. That was God. 

At last, God said He would try Abraham, to see whether he 
loved Him more than any thing in the world — more even thin 
he loved his son Isaac. 

You have heard how Abraham used to burn lambs upon 
altars. Now God said to Abraham : Take your dear son 
Isaac, and offer him up on an altar in a place that I will 
show you. 

This was a very hard thing for Abraham to do. But Abra- 
ham wished to do all God told him, because he loved God so 
much. So Abraham cut down some wood to burn; he told 
two of his servants and Isaac to come with him. He left Sarah 
in the tent at home. They all four walked on for three days; 
at last they saw a high hill a great way off. 

Abraham knew that was the place where he was to build the 
altar ; so he said to his servants, Stay here while Isaac and I go 
and worship God. He took the wood and bound it round 

38 




ABRAHAM AND ISAAC. 
39 



40 



ABRAHAM, OR THE TRIAL OF LOVE. 



Isaac with a rope. Then he took some fire and a knife, and 
Abraham and Isaac walked up the hill together. 

Isaac did not know that his father was going to offer him as 




THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC 



a sacrifice ; he thought that his father would offer a lamb. So 
he said, Father. Abraham answered, Here am I, my son. And 
Isaac said, Here is fire and wood ; but where is the lamb? My 
son, said Abraham, God will find a lamb. But Abraham did 



ABRAHAM, OR THE TRIAL OF LOVE. 41 

not tell Isaac that he was to be the lamb, and the boy expected 
to find one. 

At last they came to the top of the hill. Then Abraham 
took stones, and built an altar; and he took the wood off Isaac's 
back, and laid it on the altar. Now the time was come when 
Isaac must know' who was to be the lamb. The rope that had 
bound the wood was fastened round the hands and feet of 
Isaac, and he was laid upon the wood like a lamb. 

Then Abraham took the knife, and lifted up his hand to 
kill Isaac, when he heard a voice calling, Abraham, Abraham ! 
It was an angel speaking from heaven. The angel said : Do 
not kill your son, or hurt him at all ; for now God knows that 
you love him, because you have given Him your only son. 

How glad was Abraham to untie the rope that bound Isaac, 
and to find that he need not kill him. 

Abraham saw a lamb caught in the bushes ; and he took it, 
and offered it up as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. Abraham 
thanked God very much for having given him back his son, 
and the angel called to him out of heaven again, and said : God 
is much pleased with you for having given up your son ; and 
God will bless you and all your children and grandchildren, 
and their children, and one of your children's children shall 
make all people happy. 

When the angel had done speaking, Abraham and Isaac 
went down the hill together — there was no wood now on 
Isaac's back. 

They found the servants where ^hey had left them, and 
they all went back together to Sarah. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 

In time Abraham and Sarah became very old. At last 
Sarah died, and Abraham wished to bury her, but he had not a 
piece of ground in Canaan to bury her in; so he gave some of 
his silver to the people in Canaan, and bought a field. 

The field was full of trees, and there was a cave in it. 
Abraham took the dead 
body of Sarah, and put it in 
the cave. 

Abraham now knew that 



o 



od would soon take him 




ANCIENT JEWISH TOMB. 



away from this world, so 
he wished to see his son 
happily married, but was 
very much puzzled to know where to find him a wife, for 
Isaac was forty years old, and had never asked any woman to 
marry him. In those days fathers could force their sons to 
do whatever they ordered, and if a man became a grandfather, 
he was almost a king in his family. Abraham didn't like the 
young women of the country in which he lived, so he deter- 
mined to find a wife for his son in another country in which 
most of his earlier life had been spent. The old man was too 
feeble to go there himself, and he was afraid his son might 
make a mistake if he went, so his head servant agreed to go, 
and he was sent to this distant country with camels and rich 
presents of gold and silver. This was a very odd errand, to 



42 




REBEKAH AT THE WELL. 



43 



44 



JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 




ANCIENT WELL. 



go and hunt a wife for another man, for most men like to 
look around for themselves, if they intend to marry. 

Well, this old servant at last 
reached the edge of a city in the 
land he was sent to, and he saw a 
large well there with cold, delicious 
water in it, and a number of young 
women filling their leather bottles, 
and carrying them into the city to 
their homes. His master had told 
him that God had sent His angel on 
before him to help him to select the 
proper woman; and this was true, for in a few minutes 
after the servant's arrival at the well, a beautiful young woman 
came up to draw water, and she allowed the servant to drink 
out of her bottle, and then she filled the trough with water. 
that all of his camels might drink also. 

After the pamels had taken a good long drink of water, 
the old servant asked this kind 
y° ph sf girl where she lived in 
the city, and whether her father 
would let him sleep in his 
house, and let his camels be fed 
in his barn. He gave her gifts 
of gold, and found that she was 
.one of his master's distant re- 
lations. She invited him to the 
house, and treated him verv 
kindly. When they reached the 




EASTERN PITCHERS. 




ISAAC GOING OUT TO MEET REBEKAH. 



45 



46 



JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 



house, the old servant told her mother and brother that he 
wished her to go to the country he had come from, and 
marry his young master. 




CARRYING WATER. 



I once knew a young lady who went all the way to 
England, from this country, to marry the gentleman to whom 
she was engaged; but, of course, she had known him very 
well before and loved him deeply; but just think of it, this 



JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 



47 



beautiful maiden, about whom I am- writing, said that she was 
willing to leave her mother and her home, and travel right off, 
without delay, to another land to marry a man she had never 
seen, nor had she even heard of him until that day. God's 
angel must have whispered something to her to induce her to 
make such a journey. All this time the young master was 
wondering what sort of wife was to be brought to him; and 
late one afternoon, as he was tak- 
ing a walk, he saw the camels re- 
turning home, and one of them 
had a young woman sitting on its 
back, but she had veiled herself, 
and he could not tell what she 
looked like. Then he took her 
into the tent in which his dear 
mother had died some years be- 
fore, and she . removed her veil 
from her face, and he made her 
his wife, and they were a very 
happy couple, I assure you. 

At last Abraham died, and 
Isaac his son buried him in the 
same cave where Sarah lay. 

Isaac and Rebekah had two little sons. They were called 
Esau and Jacob. They were twins; that is they were of the 
same age. Their faces were unlike, and their hearts were 
unlike. Esau was wicked; but Jacob was good, and loved 
God. When Esau was a man, he became a hunter. He had 
a bow and arrows; he used to go into the woods and hunt 




EASTERN WOMEN VEILEB 



48 JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 

game, and bring it home, and dress it for dinner; and he gave 
some of the meat to his father Isaac. 

Jacob was a shepherd: he staid at home near his tent with 
his father and mother, and his sheep and goats. He loved 
God, and prayed to God very often. 

I am sorry to tell you that Isaac loved wicked Esau better 
than he loved good Jacob. 

But Rebekah loved her son Jacob, and God loved Jacob, 
and God was not pleased with Esau. . Do you think that Esau 
and Jacob loved one another? 

They did not. Jacob sometimes behaved unkindly to 
Esau. One day Esau said: My father will soon die, and then 
I will kill my brother Jacob. 

Rebekah heard that Esau meant to kill Jacob some day; ,so 
she was frightened, and called Jacob, and said to him: Your 
brother Esau means to kill you. Go to your uncle, who lives 
a great way off, and stay with him. Soon Esau will leave off 
being angry; then I will send for you. 

Jacob did as his mother advised. He took leave of his 
father. Jacob did not ask his father to give him anything. 
He took no servant with him, no sheep, not even a horse to 
ride upon. He only took a stick in his hand, and set out on 
his journey. Jacob felt very sad. He was a poor stranger, 
and was going to a far country which he had never seen. 

He had no tent, nor house to sleep in by the way; so when 
night came, he took some stones for a pillow, and lay down to 
sleep on the ground. There were bears and wolves, but God 
took care of him. God knew how sad he was, and made him 
dream the sweetest dream that you ever heard. 




JACOB'S DREAM. 



49 



5° 



JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 



In his sleep Jacob saw a great many steps reaching up to 
the sky, and on the steps beautiful angels; some going up, and 
some coming down: and at the top he saw God Himself. 
Then Jacob heard a voice, and God spoke to him, and said: 1 
am the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and I will take care of 
you wherever you go; and I will bring you home again, and 
your children shall live in this land of Canaan, where you 
are sleeping. 

Then Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and knew that God and 
His angels were watching over him. He wished never to 
forget the place where he had this sweet dream; so he took 
the stones which had been his pillow, and made them into a 
heap. Now, he thought, I shall be able to find the place 
when God lets me come back to Canaan. 




TOMB OF RACHEL. 



CHAPTER IX. 

JACOB/OR THE LONG JOURNEY. 

Then Jacob went on his journey. He traveled many days. 
At last he came to a place where there was a great deal of 
grass. In that place there was a well, with a great stone upon 
the top of the well. Many sheep were round the well; and 
men were with the sheep. These men were shepherds. 
There was very little water in that country where Jacob was. 

Jacob said to. the shepherds: Do you know a man called 
Laban ? — that was the name of his uncle. 

Yes, said they, we do. 
- Then Jacob said : Is he well? 

The shepherds answered: He is well; and here is his 
daughter Rachel coming with the sheep. 

Jacob was very glad to hear this, for Rachel was Jacob's 
cousin. He ran to her and kissed her, and wept. 

Jacob had not seen a friend for a long while, and he was 
glad to see his cousin. 

Rachel did not know who Jacob was, till he said: I am your 
cousin, and am come from a great way off. 

Then Rachel said to her father : My cousin Jacob I found 
sitting by the well. 

Then Laban was glad, and ran out to meet him; he kissed 
him, and said : You must come to my house : I am your uncle. 

Jacob's Uncle Laban had two daughters, one of whom was 
very pretty, while the elder one was plain. Jacob wanted to 
marry his pretty cousin, and his uncle agreed to the marriage. 

51 



52 



JACOB, OR THE LONG JOURNEY. 




JACOB'S WELL. 



if he would work seven years for him. So Jacob took charge 
of his uncle's sheep and goats, and at the end of the seven 
years he asked for his cousin to be given him in marriage. 
But the uncle told him he must first marry the elder daughter, 
and at the end of seven years more he would give him the 
younger daughter also, for in those days a man could have 
a number of wives. So Jacob labored for seven years more, 




RACHEL AND JACOB AT THE WELL. 



53 



54 



JACOB, OR THE LONG JOURNEY. 



and then married his younger cousin also. So Jacob had two 
wives. People must not have two wives now; but then they 
might have two wives, and even more than two. 

God gave Jacob a great many little children. I will not tell 
you their names, because there were so many. Jacob lived a 
long while in tents with his wives and his little children. He 
took care of Laban's sheep; but Laban gave him sheep and 
goats for his own. Jacob had plenty of bread to eat and 
raiment to wear, as God had promised; for God always keeps 
his promises. 

But Jacob could not forget his father and mother, and 
Canaan. Here he had lived when he was a little boy. 




EASTERN SHEEPFOLD. 



! 



HI 



CHAPTER X. 



JACOB, OR THE MEETING. 



At last Jacob said to Laban his uncle: I have been your 
servant a long while, and now I want to go home. 




FLIGHT OF JACOB. 



Once, while Jacob was taking care of the sheep in the 
field, he fell asleep, and had a dream, and in his dream he 
heard God say to him : Go home to your father, and 1 will 
be with you. 



55 



*4d 



56 JACOB, OR THE MEETING. 

When Jacob awoke, he sent a servant to call Rachel and 
Leah, for he wanted to speak to them; and he said : God has 
spoken to me in a dream, and told me to return to my father. 

Then Rachel and Leah said : We will go with you. 

Then Jacob packed up all his things — his tents, clothes and 
furniture. He put his things on the backs of his camels, 
placed his wives and children on camels too. He told his 
servants to drive all his sheep, cows, goats and camels. So 
they all set out. 

Jacob was pleased to go back to Canaan; but there was 
one thing that frightened him. He remembered that Esau had 
once said that he would kill him ; and he was afraid lest he 
should now come and kill him and his children. 

Soon Jacob heard that Esau was coming with four hundred 
men. Jacob thought Esau was coming to kill him: so he 
began to pray to God, and said: O God, Thou hast been very 
kind to me, and given me a great many things; do not let 
Esau come and hurt me, and kill my wives and my little 
children. Thou didst promise to take care of me. God 
heard Jacob s prayer. 

Jacob thought to himself, I will send a present to show 
Esau that 1 wish to behave kindly to him. So he took a great 
many goats, sheep and cows, and told his servants to tell Esau 
that he had sent them as a present. 

In the morning Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and 
four hundred men with him. Jacob did not run away; but 
went up to Esau.. 

Esau put his arms around Jacob's neck and kissed him, and 
they both wept. God had made Esau's heart more kind. 



JACOB, OR THE MEETING. 



57 



I 



How glad Jacob was to find his brother so kind. Jacob 
prayed to God to make him kind, and God had heard his prayer. 

Esau looked up, and saw Rachel and Leah and the little 
children; and Esau said: Who are these? 

And Jacob said: These are my children. 




MEETING OF JACOB AND ESAU. 



Then Esau said to Jacob : 1 met a great many sheep, and 
:ows, and goats ; why did you send them on before you ? 

Jacob said : They were a present for you.. 

Esau answered: 1 have enough, my brother; keep what you 
have for yourself. 



ss 



JACOB, OR THE MEETING. 



Pray take my present, said Jacob, for God has given me a 
great deal. And Jacob begged Esau so much to take it, that 
at last he did. 

Esau said to Jacob : Let us take our journey together ; and 
I will go on first. 




ESAU DEPARTING. 



But Jacob said : I cannot go as fast as you, for I have many 
little children, young lambs and goats; and if one day we were 
to drive them too fast, they would die. 

Then Esau went home to his own house, which was a grea/ 



JACOB, OR THE MEETING. 



59 



way off; for Esau did not live in Canaan. But Jacob staid in 
the land of* Canaan, for he wished to live there. 

You see that God let Jacob come back to Canaan, as He 
had promised. Jacob did not forget the sweet dream I told 
you of. He went to that very place once more : he had made 
a heap of stones to mark the place, so that he could find it 
again. There he built an altar, and offered sacrifices to God, 
who had been so very kind to him. God had given him food 
and clothes, as He had promised, and He had given him many 
more things besides; He had given him wives and children, 
and servants, and cattle; and God had made his brother 
kind to him. 




ANCIENT ALTAR. 



CHAPTER XL 

JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. 

Jacob saw his old father, Isaac, again; and then Isaac died, 
and Jacob and Esau buried him. 

Jacob chose to live in Canaan, with his children and his 
cattle. 

All the sons were grown up to be men except Benjamin, 
who was still a little babe. Joseph was older than Benjamin. 
He was a big boy, and the best of all the children. The ten 




JACOB'S ARRIVAL IN EGYPT. 
60 




JOSEPH'S DREAM. 



61 



61 JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. , 

eldest were wicked. They used to take care of sheep and 
goats; and when Joseph was with them, they grieved him by 
their wicked behavior; they were unkind to him, and spoke 
roughly. Jacob loved Joseph the best, and this made the 
others envious. They hated him because he was the pet 
and the darling. 

Jacob loved Joseph too much. He gave him a pretty coat 
made of many colors, yellow, blue, green, pink, red, purple; 
and Joseph used to wear it. 

One night Joseph had a very strange dream. He thought 
he was in a field of corn with all his brothers, and were 
making up large bundles called sheaves. He thought each of 
his brothers made a sheaf, and that all his brothers' sheaves 
bowed down to his sheaf. Joseph thought this a very 
strange dream, and he told it to his brothers. 

But when they heard it they were angry, and said : We 
suppose you mean that we shall bow down to you. And so 
they hated him still more. 

Soon after Joseph had another strange dream. He thought 
he saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars in the sky, and that 
they bowed down to him. This dream was more strange 
than the other, and he told it to his father as well as to his 
brothers. 

His father was surprised, and said: Does the sun mean 
me, and the moon your mother, and the stars your brothers; 
and shall we bow down to you ? 

Yet Jacob thought that God had sent the dream to Joseph, 
and would make it come true; but the brothers were more 
and more angry. 



JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. 



63 



Now Joseph's brethren had a great many sheep and goats 
to take care of, and there was not enough grass for them all 
round the tents; so they took their flocks a great way off, that 
they might eat fresh grass. Joseph staid at home with his 




SUN, MOON AND STARS. 

father; and Benjamin staid at home, because he was such 

a little child. 

At last Jacob wished to know how his sons were; so he 
said to Joseph, Go and see your brothers, and come and tell 
me how they and the flocks are. 



64 



JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. 



Joseph was always ready to do what his father wished; so 
he set out on his way. He took no servant, but putting on 




JOSEPH APPROACHING HIS BROTHERS. 



his pretty coat, he wished his dear father good-bye. He little 
thought how long it would be before he should see him again. 



JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. 6\ 

Joseph went a great way, but could not find his brothers. 
At last a man saw him, and said: For whom are you looking? 

And Joseph answered : 1 am looking for my brothers; can 
you tell me where they are ? 

No\$ the brothers saw Joseph coming, and they said to 
each other, Here this dreamer comes; let us kill him, and 
throw him into a deep pit, and tell our father that a lion or a 
bear has eaten him up. 

When Joseph came up they seized hold of him. 

The brothers were going to kill him, when one of them 
named Reuben said : Do not kill him, but only throw him into 
a pit. This brother was a little kinder than the rest, and 
meant to take him out and bring him back to Jacob. But 
they first took off his pretty coat. 

Oh ! how bitterly he cried when he saw what they were 
going to do to him; how he begged them to spare him, and 
to let him return to his father ! But they would not hear, for 
their hearts were harder than stone. 

They threw him into the deep, dark pit; there he lay. 
hungry and thirsty and weary, without one drop of water to 
quench his thirst. How it must have grieved Joseph to think 
that he should not return to his dear father; and his father 
perhaps would think that he was dead. 

The wicked brothers cared not for his groans, but they sar 
down and began to eat their dinner. 



CHAPTER XII. 



JOSEPH, OR THE SLAVE. 



While the brothers were eating their dinner, they looked 
up and saw some people coming. As they came nearer, they 
saw camels, and men riding them. 

These men lived in the country a great way off, and had 
been to some hills where some very costly things grew, called 
spice and balm. They had plucked these things, and had put 
them in large bundles on the backs of their camels. They 
were going to carry them to a country a great way off, and 
sell them for money. 

This was their way of getting their living, and it was a good 
way; yet they were wicked men, as you will see. 

One of the brothers named Judah, said: Let us sell Joseph; 
for it would be better to sell than to kill him: we shall get 
some money if we sell him; and it would be cruel to kill him. 

The other brothers said that they thought it was a good 
plan. So they called to the men, and asked if they would buy 
a young boy. 

And the men said: Yes. We will give you twenty pieces 
of silver for him. 

The brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit. Perhaps he 
thought they were going to let him return to his father. 

Poor Joseph! He soon found that his brothers were not 
going to be kind. The men paid the money, and took Joseph 
and carried him away. 

When Joseph was gone, the brothers said : What shall we 



66 




JOSEPH'S COAT DIPPED IN BLOOD. 

67 



68 JOSEPH, OR THE SLAVE. 

tell our father? We w ill not say we have seen Joseph, but will 
say we have found his coat on the ground. 

Then the brothers killed one of their goats, and dipped the 
pretty coat in the blood. We will show our father this coat, 
said they. So they carried the coat home, all covered with 
blood. 

Jacob had been thinking of his sons while they were gone. 
How glad he must have been when he heard the bleating of 
their sheep, and knew they had come. He looked to see 
whether Joseph was with them. But no. His sons came up 
to him. In their hands they held a bloody coat. They showed 
it to Jacob, and said: We have found this. Do you think it is 
your sons coat? 

Jacob knew that coat, and said: A lion or bear has eaten 
him up, and has torn Joseph to pieces. 

How Jacob wept for his darling child ! How sorry he was 
that he had sent him alone to seek his brothers ! The wicked 
brothers tried to comfort Jacob, and said: Do not weep so 
much. But Jacob would not hear. 

No, 1 shall die, and then I shall be with Joseph; for 1 shall 
never be happy any more. 

How sad it was for this old man, leaning on his staff, his 
hair gray, and his face full of sadness, while he thought that 
his dear boy had been eaten up. His little Benjamin was a 
comfort to him; Jacob would never let him go away, nor would 
he trust him with his brothers, though he did not know how 
wicked they had been 




JOSEPH'S COAT. 



69 



CHAPTER XIII. 

JOSEPH, OR THE PRISONER 

The men who had bought Joseph, took him to Egypt. 

When they got there they sold him as if he had been a 
horse or a cow. In some countries men are sold, and are 
called slaves. Poor Joseph was sold as a slave. There was a 
very rich man, and he bought Joseph for i slave. His name 
was Potiphar. He took Joseph home with him. He did not 
send him to work in the field, but made him a servant in the 
house. So Joseph had no very hard work to do. 

Joseph tried to be a good servant. Though he wished 
to be with his father, he did not waste his time fretting, but 
took great pains to please his master. When his master told 
him to do anything, he did it so well that his master was 
pleased with him. It was God who made Joseph able to do 
his work well; and Josephs master knew that it was God that 
helped him to do things well. I suppose Joseph had told him; 
for his master did not know the true God, but worshiped 
idols. 

His master liked him better every day. At last, he said 
to Joseph, I can trust you so well that I will give you the 
charge of the other servants when I am out. Take care of the 
house, and all the things in it, of the garden and of the fields; 
for I can trust you. 

So Joseph had the care of everything. He behaved the 
same as if his master were watching him; for he knew the eye 
of God was always upon him. There are many children who 

70 



JOSEPH, OR THE PRISONER. 71 

behave ill as soon as their parents go out of the room: such 
children do not fear God. 

Though Joseph had the care of nice things to eat, and 
beautiful things to wear, he only took what his master allowed 
him to take. God made the things grow well in the field, and 
the work to go on right in the house, so that Potiphar had 
no trouble himself, but found that Joseph would manage all 
for him. 

Joseph had now all he could wish for; but he could not 
forget his father, and his little brother Benjamin. 

Now Potiphar had a very wicked wife. She wished poor 
Joseph turned out of the house; for he had found out how bad 
she was, and so she did not like to see Joseph. 

This wicked woman said to Potiphar: Your slave, that you 
think so good, is wicked, and when you are out he behaves 
very ill. 

Potiphar was so foolish as to believe her, and he said: 
Joseph shall be put in prison. 

There were a great many men in the prison, and most of 
them had done very bad things, but Joseph had done nothing 
wrong, God still loved Joseph, and he could make him happy, 
even in a prison. 

At last the keeper took the chains off Joseph's feet, and 
allowed him to walk about the prison, and take care of the 
prisoners. The keeper found that he could trust him, and that 
Joseph managed things well. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



JOSEPH, OR THE BUTLER AND BAKER. 

The prison was in the house of Potiphar. One day, 
Potiphar brought two men to Joseph, and said to him: 
Take great care that these men do not get out of prison. 
I give them under your charge. You see Potiphar thought 

Joseph could be trusted; 
perhaps he had found 
out that Joseph was not 
so bad as he had once 
thought. 

These men were the 
servants of the king of 
Egypt. The king of Egypt 
had a great many servants 
to wait on him. One of 
his servants used to bring 
him wine in a cup to 
drink. This servant was 
called his butler. Another 
used to bake things for 
his dinner. He was called 
the baker. . 

The butler and the baker had both offended the king: I 
do not know what they had done, but they were shut up in 
prison. 

Then Potiphar brought them to Joseph, and told him to 

72 




JOSEPH INTERPRETING THE DREAMS 



JOSEPH OR THE BUTLER AND BAKER. 



73 



keep them safe, Joseph shut them up in a room together, 
and gave them bread and water every day, and took care of 
them. 

. One morning when Joseph came to see them, he observed 
that they looked very sad. He said to them : Why do you 
look sad? 

They answered: We have each had a strange dream to- 
night, and we think our dreams have some meaning, but we 
cannot find it out; and there is nobody in the prison who 
can tell us. 

Then Joseph said: But 
my God knows all things; 
he could tell me the 
meaning. Only tell me 
your dreams. 

The butler told his 
dream the first. He said : 
I thought I saw a tree 
uch as grapes grow upon 
—a vine. It had three 
branches, but no grapes. While 1 was looking, I saw little 
buds, and they turned into grapes, and they grew ripe. I 
picked the grapes, and squeezed them into a cup, and made 
wine, and then brought the cup to the king for him to drink. 

This was the butler's dream, and God told Joseph the 

meaning of it. 

You saw three branches, said Joseph; something will 
happen you in three days. The king will send for you to be 
his butler again. 



3 




THE BUTLER'S DREAM. 



74 



JOSEPH, OR THE BUTLER AND BAKER. 



When the baker heard this pleasant meaning, he thought 
that his dream would be pleasant too; so he began to tell it. 
The baker said: I dreamed that 1 was carrying three white 
baskets on my head, the one on the top of the other. In the 
baskets there were baked meats and birds came and picked 
the meat out of the top basket. 

Something will happen to you in three days, said Joseph 

The king will send for 
you, and will hang you 
upon a tree, and the birds 
will pick your flesh off 
your bones. 

So while the butler 
was pleased with what 
Joseph had told him, the 
poor baker was sorry, 
because he knew that 
he must die. 

Joseph had one little 
favor to ask of the butler. 
Tell the king I am shut 
up in prison, and cannot 
get but. 1 once lived in a land a great way off, and was 
stolen, and now 1 am shut up in this prison, though I ha\e 
done nothing wicked. Beg the king to let me out. 

You see Joseph did not tell of his brothers' wickedness in 
having sold him. 

In three days the king sent men to the prison for the 
butler and the baker. It was the king's birthday, and he had 




THE BAKER'S DREAM. 



JOSEPPH, OR THE BUTLER AND BAKER. 



75 



made a feast for his servants, and he had thought of the 
butler and baker, and had said: Let the butler come back to 
me; and let the baker be hanged; I will not forgive him. So 
now both the butler and the baker knew that Joseph had told 
them the truth. 

The butler forgot to tell the king about Joseph. I 
suppose he was thinking of the fine things he saw, of eating 
and drinking, of money and clothes. The butler was unkind, 
and worse than unkind; he was ungrateful. 

Poor Joseph waited in vain. No one came to let him out 
)f prison. One day passed, and then another — summer 
came, and then winter, but Joseph was still shut up. Yet 
God had not forgotten him. 




SACRED OX. 






CHAPTER XV. 

JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. 

I have told you of the great king of Egypt. His name was 
Pharaoh. He had a great many servants. He sat upon a 
throne, wore beautiful clothes, a chain of gold around his neck, 
a ring upon his hand, and a crown upon his head. He lived in 
a fine house, and rode out in a fine chariot drawn by many 
horses; and as he passed by, people bowed down to the 
ground. One night, this great king had two very strange 
dreams. 

He thought he was standing by a river, and seven fat cows 
came out of the river, and began to eat the grass. This was a 
pleasant sight; but, soon after, he saw seven very thin cows 
come out of the river, and they ate up the seven fat cows; and 
yet, after they had eaten them, they looked as thin as they did 
before. Then the king awoke. 

But soon he fell asleep, and dreamed that he saw a stalk of 
corn with seven fine ears growing on it. While he was looking 
he saw another stalk with seven very bad ears of corn on it; 
and these bad ears ate up the seven good ears. 

These were Pharaoh's two dreams. He thought them 
strange, and longed to know their meaning. In the morning 
he told his servants to find some one who could tell the mean- 
ing of dreams. A great many men came who pretended to be 
wise; but they could not tell the king the meaning of his 
dreams. 

At last the butler thought of Joseph, and said: You know, 

76 






JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. 



77 



king, that you were once angry with me and with your baker, 
and you shut us up in prison. While we were in prison, the 
baker and I each had a dream, and a young man told us the 
meaning of our dreams, and said that the baker would be 
hanged, and that 1 should be let out of prison; and so it was, 




PHARAOH HONORS JOSEPH. 



just as the young man had said. Then Pharaoh told his ser- 
vants to bring this young man out of prison. 

So the servants came to the prison for Joseph. Joseph 
must have been glad to hear this, but he was dressed in very 
poor clothes, not fit for a king to see. So the servants gave 
him neat clothes. 



78 JOSEPH, OR THE kELEASE. 

It was a long, long while since Joseph had felt the sweet 
air blow upon his face, and had seen the green fields. He 
looked pale and sick. 

He came into the king's fine house, and stood before him. 
The king said, 1 hear that you can tell the meaning of dreams. 

It is not myself, said Joseph, that can tell the meaning, but 
my God can. Then Pharaoh told Joseph his two dreams. 

When he had done speaking, Joseph answered: Both your 
dreams have the same meaning. This is what is going to hap- 
pen. The next seven years a great deal of corn will grow in 
the fields; but afterward hardly any corn will grow for seven 
years. The seven fat cows mean the seven years when much 
corn will grow; and the seven thin cows mean the seven years 
when very little corn will grow. God sent you these dreams, 
that you might know what is going to happen. 

Now what could the king do? First there would be a great 
deal of corn, then scarcely any. Joseph gave the king some 
advice. He said: Save up some of the corn when there is sj 
much, that you may have some when there is none growing. 
You should look for a very wise man, who will save up t\ e 
corn, and put it in large barns; or the people will die whe a 
no corn grows in the fields. 

Pharaoh was much pleased with Joseph for telling him t\ e 
meaning of his dreams; he believed what Joseph said. An.! 
the king said: Joseph shall save up the corn. 

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: You are so very wise thi 
you shall help me to manage all the people in the land. Evei y 
one shall mind you as they do me, and you shall be the greate.it 
person next to me. 




CONCERT IN EGYPT. 



80 JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. 

Then Pharaoh took the ring off his hand, and put it on 
Joseph's hand; and he gave him beautiful clothes, and a gold 
chain to wear round his neck. He gave him a fine chariot to 
ride in, and told the people to obey him. 

So Joseph was made a great ruler; but he would not be 
idle. He went about all the country in his chariot to get corn, 
and built large barns, and filled them with corn, and so he did 
for seven years. 

He was glad he was out of prison, and thanked God very 
much. He was not happy because he wore fine clothes; but 
he was glad to be able to do good to people, by saving up corn. 
He married a wife, and had two little boys; yet still he thought 
of his dear old father, and hoped that he should one day see 
him again; and he thought of little Benjamin, and he hoped 
that his brothers were sorry for their wickedness. He did not 
feel angry with them for the great wrong they had done him. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

JOSEPH, OR THE RULER OF EGYPT. 

A great deal of corn grew in the fields next year and the 
year after, and for seven years then scarcely any corn grew. 
The poor people came to the king and said: We have nothing 
to eat, and Pharaoh said: Go to Joseph; he can help you. So 
the people went to Joseph, and he opened his large barns full 
of corn, and sold the corn to the people. They brought money, 
and large bags or sacks. Joseph took the money, and filled 
the sacks with corn. A great many people came to buy corn: 
some from a long way off; but Joseph had enough corn 
for all. 

Among the people who came, there were ten men who 
had come from a far country. Who do you think these were? 
They were Joseph's brothers. When Joseph saw them he 
remembered them, though he had not seen them for twenty 
years. He knew those cruel brothers who had sold him for 
twenty pieces of silver. If he pleased, he might have punished 
them. 

The brothers thought Joseph was a great ruler, and they 
did not know that they had seen him before; for he wore fine 
clothes, and he was grown to be a man, and he had another 
name, which the king had given him. 

So, when the ten brothers saw him, they bowed upon 
the ground. Then Joseph remembered his dream about tht 
sheaves bowing down to his sheaf, and he saw that God had 
made it come true. 

6 81 



JOSEPH, OR THE RULER OF EGYPT. 

Joseph felt ready to forgive his brothers; but he wished 
first to see whether they were sorrv for their wickedness, and 
whether they loved their father and little Benjamin. Joseph 
did not tell them who he was. He even pretended to be 




AND JOSEPH KNEW HIS BRETHREN. 



unkind. He spoke to them in a rough voice, and said: Where 
do you come from ? 

From the land of Canaan, they said; to buy food. 

But Joseph said he did not believe they spoke truth. You 
come, he said, to see what a bad land this is, with no corn 
growing, and you mean to bring some king with soldiers to 
fight us. 












JOSEPH, OR THE RULER OF EGYPT. 83 

No, indeed, said Joseph's brothers, we do not. We are ten 
poor brothers, and we have come to buy food. 

But Joseph pretended he would not believe what they 
said. 

Josephs brothers answered: We are all brothers, and once 
there were twelve of us, but one is dead, and the youngest is 
with our father, who is an old man. They tried to make 
Joseph believe what they said, but he would not; that is, he 
pretended not to believe them. 

At last Joseph said: I must see your youngest brother. 
I shall send one of you to bring him, and I shall keep the rest 
in prison till he comes back with the youngest brother. 

The brothers knew their father would not part with 
Benjamin. So not one of the brothers said he would go 
and bring Benjamin. 

Joseph put them all in prison, and kept them shut up 
together for three days. While they were shut up, they had 
time to think. 

At last Joseph came to them and said: This is what you 
must do, and then you shall live; for I fear God. 

How glad and surprised the brothers must have been 
when they heard him say he feared God; for the other people 
in Egypt worshiped idols. 

Joseph said: I will keep only one of you shut up in the 
prison; all the rest of you may, go back, and take corn home 
with you; but when you come again, you must bring your 
youngest brother with you, or I shall think you have not 
spoken truth; but if you do bring him, I will believe you. 

The brothers were glad to think they might go back, yet it 



S4 JOSEPH, OR THE RULER OF EGYPT. 

made them sad to hear that one of them would be kept in 
prison. 

Joseph heard what they said, and it made the tears run 
down his cheeks; so that he was obliged to go out of the 
room to weep. He did not like to see them unhappy; but 
you know he wanted to find out whether they were kind to 
Benjamin, and if they loved their aged father, and were sorry 
for all they had done. 

When Joseph came back, he took one of the brothers, 
called Simeon, and said that he would keep him in prison till 
the others brought their youngest brother with them. So 
Joseph had Simeon bound with ropes, or chains, while the 
other brothers stood round. 

Then they must have remembered how once poor Joseph 
had been bound, and sold for a slave. 

Simeon was left alone in the prison, and he did not know 
whether his brothers would ever come back, or whether he 
would ever be let out. 

Before the brothers set off to go home, Joseph said to 
his servants: When you fill those men's sacks with corn, put 
back into their sacks the money that they paid me for it, and 
give them also some food by the way. 

When they were come home, they told their father all that 
had happened. There was a great ruler they said, who sold 
corn to the people; and he spoke very roughly to us, and said 
that we were not come to buy corn, but that we only wanted 
to see the land, that we might bring men to fight the poor 
hungry people that lived there. He called us spies. We told 
him that we were not spies, but were twelve brothers; that 



JOSEPH, OR THE RULER OF EGYPT. 85 

one was dead, and that one was with our father in the land of 
Canaan. But he would not believe us, and told us we must 
bring our youngest brother with us; and he took Simeon, and 
shut him up in prison, and said that he would not let him out 
till we came back with Benjamin. 

Poor old Jacob was very sorry when he heard this. Then 
the brothers began to open their sacks of corn, and were sur- 
prised to find their money at the top of their sacks; but they 
were not pleased; they thought that some one had put the 
money there to get them in disgrace, and that when they went 
back to Egypt, they should be punished for stealing. 

They were more afraid than ever of going back to Egypt, 
and seeing the great ruler; yet they wished very much to go, 
for they had only bought a little corn, and they wanted more; 
and they knew that poor Simeon would remain in prison till 
they went back. 

Jacob said: No, I cannot trust Benjamin with you, lest 
some harm should happen to him. You have taken away two 
of my children, Joseph and Simeon. If any evil were to 
happen to Benjamin, you would bring down my gray hairs 
with sorrow to the grave. Jacob felt that it would break his 
heart to lose Benjamin, he loved him so very much. 

So the brothers were obliged to stay in Canaan; for they 
knew it would be of no use to go to Egypt, unless Benjamin 
went with them. 






CHAPTER XVII. 

JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 

But soon they had eaten up all their corn, and none grew 
in their fields. 

Jacob saw how hungry they were, and at last he said: Go 
again, buy us a little food. 

Then they said: We cannot go without Benjamin; for the 
man who sold corn said we should not see him, unless we 
brought our youngest brother. If you let Benjamin come with 
us, then we will go. 

Jacob said: Why did you tell the man you had a brother? 

Then the brothers answered: The man asked us so many 
questions. He said to us: Is your father alive? Have you 
another brother? 

Still, Jacob did not like to let Benjamin go. 

One of the brothers called Judah, said, I will take care of 
Benjamin, if you will let him go. I promise to bring him 
back to you. 

Jacob saw it was of no use to refuse any more. So he 
gave Benjamin into the care of Judah. 

But Jacob was afraid of the man being unkind to them, and 
of his saying they had stolen the money. So he said to them, 
Carry the man a present. 

Pick some nuts and almonds off your trees, said Jacob; 
and take a little balm and myrrh, and some spices, and a little 
honey with you as a present. 

The man was very rich, and did not want anything, but 

86 



JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. %7 

the present would show him that they wished to please him, 
and do right. 

Besides, said Jacob, take the money back that you found in 
your sacks; take more money in your hands to buy more corn, 
and take Benjamin, and go to the man. 

Jacob's heart was full of pain when he said this. Then he 
began to pray to God. 

When Jacob wished his dear Benjamin good-bye, he 
thought of how he once had parted with his Joseph, the day 
he sent him to look for his brothers, when he put on his 
pretty coat. 

The brothers took the present, and they each took some 
money in their hands, and the^ took their asses, and their 
empty sacks; and Judah took care of Benjamin. 

So they parted from their old father, and their wives, and 
their little children, and they set out on their journey. 

They all felt very sad that day. They were afraid they 
should be taken up as thieves when they got to Egypt. 

At last they came to Egypt. They went to the place where 
Joseph was selling the corn. He looked to see whether Ben- 
jamin was with them. How pleased he was. 

Benjamin was very young when Joseph had seen him last, 
yet Joseph knew him. 

As soon as he saw his brothers, he called his servant, who 
managed his house, and said: Take those ten men to my 
house, and get a great dinner ready; for they must dine with 
me to-day. 

The brothers did not understand what Joseph said to the 
servant, for he spoke in another language. The servant came 



88 JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 

and told them to come with him. So he brought them to 
Joseph's own house, a fine large house. Yet the brothers 
were not pleased, but very frightened. 

Ah! said they, we are going to be put in prison; and we 
shall be kept in Egypt, to work hard. 

They thought of their poor father, and of what he would do. 

When they got to the door of the house, they came up to 
the servant, and said: sir! we came here once before to buy 
a little food, and we paid money for it; but when we got home 
we opened our sacks, and found the money in them, and here 
we have brought it back; and we have brought more money 
to buy more corn. We cannot tell who put the money in 
our sacks. 

The servant answered them very kindly, and said: Fear not. 

How happy the brothers were now! They soon found 
that they were not going to be put into a prison, but that they 
were to dine in a fine house. What could make the man 
so kind? 

While they were waiting, the servant went and brought 
poor Simeon out of prison. He had been shut up a long while. 

The servant told them that dinner would not be ready till 
noon; and while they were waiting, he brought them water to 
wash their feet, and gave some food to their poor tired and 
hungry beasts. 

The brothers said: Let us get our present ready, while we 
are waiting for the master to come. 

So they went out, and got ready the balm and spices, the 
honey, and nuts, and almonds. 

At last Joseph came, and the brothers came into the house, 







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90 JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 

and brought the present, and they bowed down upon the 
ground. 

This time Joseph spoke very kindly to them. He asked 
how they were; but most of all he wanted to know how his 
dear father was. 

Is your father well? he asked; the old man of whom you 
spoke ? Is he yet alive ? 

They said: Yes, our father is well, and he is alive. 

Then Joseph looked for Benjamin, and when he saw him, 
he longed to throw his arms round his neck, and kiss him, but 
he would not do it yet. He only said: Is this your younger 
brother that you told me of ? 

And then he made this little prayer: God be gracious to 
thee, my son. 

When Joseph had said this, he felt the tears coming into 
his eyes, and he could not help crying; so he went into his 
own room, and there he cried. He was a very tender-hearted 
man, and he loved this young brother very much. 

Now the dinner was ready; so Joseph would not stay in his 
room; but washed his face, that no one might see that he had 
been crying; and tried to look cheerful. 

In the room .where they were to dine, there were three 
tables. One was for Joseph's servants, another was for 
Joseph himself — for he always dined at a table by himself — 
and the other table was for the eleven brothers. 

Joseph told them where to sit; he made the eldest sit first, 
and then the second, just according to their age, and he made 
Benjamin sit last. The brothers were surprised at Joseph's 
knowing which was eldest and which was second, for it is hard 



JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 



91 



to teli how old a grown-up man is; but Joseph knew them 
better than they thought he did. 

Now they all sat down to dinner. It was long since they 
had such a dinner, and they had made a great journey, and 
were tired and hungry and thirsty. 

Joseph could see them all, and it was a pleasant sight. 
Once they had eaten their dinner while he lay in the pit, and 
they had given him none. Yet he would not treat them so, 
but would return good for evil. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. 

The brothers spent a happy day with Joseph. They did 
not go home that day, but waited to set out on the morrow. 

You know that they had come to buy corn, and they had 
brought empty sacks with them. Joseph called his servant, 
and said to him secretly: Fill the sacks of those eleven men 
with corn, and put their money that they have given me for 
the corn back into their sacks. And put my silver cup into 
the sack of the youngest. 

The servant filled the sacks with corn, and put the money 
nto them. And he put the silver cup into Benjamin's sack. 
They did not know that the servant had put money and a 
cup into them. 

The next morning, as soon as it was light, the brothers 
rose up, took their beasts and their sacks, and set off to 
return home to their father. How glad they were to get 
away safely, not one left behind! 

What a pleasant history they should have to tell their 
father! How much surprised he would be to hear of the 
great man's kindness, and how glad he would be to see Ben- 
jamin again! 

But soon was all their joy turned into grief. 

They had gone but a little way, when some one called 
them. It was Joseph's servant; he came running after them. 

What made you, said he, behave so ill to my master, after 
all his kindness to you? Why have you stolen his silver cup? 



92 



JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. 93 

The brothers were much surprised to hear that the cup 
was stolen. We would not do such a thing, they said. Did 
we not bring back the money, when we thought it had been 
put in our sacks by mistake? And now would we steal a 
silver cup? None of us have taken it. 

Then the servant told them to open their sacks: so the 
eldest brother took down his sack; the servant looked in 
among the corn, but could find no cup. Then the second 
opened his sack, but there was no cup hid in it. The third 
showed his, and each brother showed his in his turn. At last 
Benjamin showed his. How much were they all surprised 
when they found the silver cup in it. 

You know that Benjamin had not stolen it. You know 
that the servant had put it in the sack when he filled it 
with corn. 

The servant said to Benjamin: You must come back with 
me to my master. He was going to take him for a slave, 
and never let him return home; but he said that his brothers 
might go home. 

And would they go and leave Benjamin behind? 

No, said they, we will go back with Benjamin. 

You see that they loved Benjamin, and they would not 
leave him alone in his distress. 

They put their sacks again on their beasts, and followed 
the servant to Joseph's house. Their hearts were bursting 
with grief, and they cried as they went. 

■ Joseph was in his house waiting for them. 

Joseph was glad to see them all come back with Benjamin. 
Now Joseph saw that they loved Benjamin. 



94 JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER 

Joseph spoke to them as if he was angry, and said: What 
is this wicked thing that you have done ? 

You remember that Judah had promised to take care of 
Benjamin. So Judah began to beg Joseph to forgive Benjamin. 

Judah knew that it would be of no use to say that Benjamin 
had not taken the cup, so he only begged Joseph to take 
pity on them. 

God is punishing us for our sins, said Judah, and we can 
say nothing; we must all be your slaves. 

No, said Joseph, not all, only he who stole the cup; he 
shall be my slave; let the others go back to their father. 

Joseph wanted to see whether the brothers would go back, 
and leave poor Benjamin to be a slave. 

Judah then came nearer to Joseph, and began to beg for 
Benjamin with all his heart. 

I promised my father that I would take care of Benjamin. 
I cannot go home without him. If I were to go back without 
Benjamin, we should see our father die. Let me be your 
slave instead of Benjamin, and let him go home to his 
father; for I could not bear to see my father die of grief. 

Now Joseph saw that Judah did indeed love Benjamin 
and his old father. 

Joseph felt ready to burst into tears, yet he did not go out 
of the room to weep as he had done before; but he said to all 
his servants, Go out of the room; and Joseph was left alone 
with his brothers. He cried so loud, that all his servants 
heard him, though they were not in the room. 

At last he said: I am Joseph. Thy brother whom ye sold 
into Egypt. Is my father yet alive? 



JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. 95 

Joseph's brothers were frightened; they could not speak, 
and they dared not come near him. 

Joseph did not wish to frighten them; he longed to put 
his arms round them, and kiss them. 

He saw that they were unhappy at the thoughts of their 
wickedness, so he tried to comfort them. 

Do not grieve because you sold me, said he. God let you 
do it, that 1 might save corn to feed your children. I wish you 
all to come and live with me here. You must bring my old 
father with you, and your children, and I will feed you all. 
Look at me, and you will see that I am indeed your own 
brother Joseph. It is my mouth that speaks to you. Go and 
tell my father what fine things I have in Egypt, and bring him 
here to live with me. 

This was the loving way in which Joseph spoke. Then he 
threw his arms round Benjamin's neck, and wept as he kissed 
him; and Benjamin wept too upon Joseph's neck. Afterward 
Joseph kissed all his brothers, and wept as he kissed each; and 
then his brothers no more felt afraid of him, but began to talk 
with him. They saw Joseph had quite forgiven them, and 
that he loved them with all his heart. 



•it 



CHAPTER XIX. 

JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 

The servants were glad to hear that Joseph had found his 
brothers. Pharaoh the king heard of the brothers being found; 
and he was glad, for he loved Joseph. 

He called Joseph, and said to him: Your brothers must 
come and live near you, and you must send for your father, 
and for all the little children. We will give them houses, fields, 
and gardens, and they shall live together. We must send 
wagons to bring the little children, their mothers, and your 
aged father. 

You see how kind the king was. 

When all the things were ready, Joseph told his brothers 
to go to Canaan, and to come back quickly. He gave them one 
piece of advice before they went. Take care, he said, that you 
do not quarrel by the way. 

Old Jacob had been longing to see them. At last they 
came, and no one was missing. 

They told him quickly the joyful news: Joseph is alive; and 
he is the great ruler that sells corn in the land of Egypt. 

No, said he, my son has long been dead. 

But we have seen him. 

It cannot be true, said Jacob. 

Then the brothers told him that Joseph desired them all to 
come and live with him. s 

Still, Jacob could not believe them. 

Only come and see the wagons he has sent, said they, 

96 



JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 97 

So they took their father to see the wagons, and he did 
believe. 

It is enough, said Jacob. Joseph my son is yet alive; I will 
go and see him. 

The brothers told their wives and children that they must 
leave Canaan, and take a long journey. Jacob was lame 
and old, he rode in a wagon, but the brothers walked. They 
took their sheep, cows, goats and camels, and all their things. 
They had to travel a very long way. No doubt the little 
children were much pleased, for children are fond of making 
journeys. 

At last they all came into the land of Egypt; 

Long before they came to Joseph's house, they saw a fine 
chariot coming toward them. It was Joseph's. It stopped, 
and Joseph got out. 

Jacob stepped out of his wagon. His hair was gray, his 
legs were weak, and he could hardly walk. Joseph was a fine 
and stately man. He ran to meet his father, and threw his 
arms round his neck; and then he wept. 

The last time Joseph had kissed his father was when he 
was a boy dressed in his pretty coat, and was going to look for 
his brothers. How many sad days had Jacob spent since 
that time. 

The brothers did not feel envious now, when they saw 
Jacob and Joseph folded in each other's arms. 

Now, said the aged Jacob, let me die, since I have seen 
your face once more. 

Then Joseph said to his father and brothers: I will go and 
tell Pharaoh that you have come. 



98 JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 

So Joseph went to the king, and said: My father and 
brothers, and their flocks, and all that they have, are come. 

And Pharaoh said to them: What is your employment? 

We are shepherds. 

Pharaoh said that he would give them a great many fields, 
and that they might live there altogether, with their children 
and their flocks. 

Joseph wished them to live altogether, because the people 
in Egypt worshiped idols. 

Joseph wished the king to see his dear old father; so he 
brought him in to the king. The king treated him with great 
respect. 

Jacob lifted up his hands over Pharaoh's head, and prayed 
God to show him kindness. This was called blessing him. 
Jacob blessed Pharaoh, because he had been good to Joseph, 
and paid him so many honors. 

Pharaoh said to Jacob: How old are you? Jacob said: I 
am one hundred and thirty years old. 

Jacob at last fell sick, and knew that he should die. He 
sent for his sons, that he might bless them before he died. 
When his sons came, he sat upon the bed, and called them one 
by one, that he might give a blessing to each. 

Joseph fell upon his father's face, when he was dead, and 
wept and kissed him. 

A very sad thought came into the minds of the brothers: 
Perhaps Joseph has only been so kind to us to please his father; 
perhaps he has not really forgiven us; and now perhaps he will 
punish us. But Joseph said: Fear not: it was wrong in you to 
sell me, yet God made it turn out for good. I will still feed 



JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 



99 



you and your children. He spoke very kindly, and comforted 
them. 

Joseph lived to be a very old man, and at last he died. 

You have heard the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
God loved them all three. Abraham was the grandfather, 
Isaac the father, and Jacob the son. 

God had promised the land of Canaan to the children of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that is, to their descendants. 
God would not forget that promise. 







CHAPTER XX. 

MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. 

You have heard how Joseph and his brothers lived happily 
in Egypt for a long while. At last they grew old and died, 
but they left a great many children; and their children had 
a great many children, till at last there were hundreds and 
thousands. These people were the grandchildren of Jacob, 
and his great-grandchildren and their children. 

Did you know that Jacob had two names ? 

His other name was Israel. It was a name that God had 
given him. 

All the sons of Jacob were called the children of Israel, or 
the children of Jacob, and the grandchildren of Jacob were 
called by this same name, Children of Israel. There were 
some men, and some women, and some children, and all of 
them together were called Children of Israel. 

The grown-up people were called Children of Israel. 

They did not live in Canaan, you remember; they had left 
Canaan, because no corn grew there for a long while; they 
lived in Egypt, and took care of their sheep. While the good 
king Pharaoh lived they were happy. At last he died, and 
there was another king of Egypt: he too was called Pharaoh. 

This new king knew that the children of Israel had come 
from a great way off, and he said: There are so many of them, 
perhaps they may some day fight against me with swords, and 
kill me and my servants. I will make them work hard, and I 
will try to kill them with hard work. 

100 




THE FINDING OF MOSES. 



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J02 MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. 

So he ordered them to make a great many bricks, and 
Duild very high walls. He sent some of his men to make 
them work hard. 

The children of Israel were used to taking care of sheep, 
and that is a pleasant employment. Shepherds lead their 
sheep to the green fields, and by the side of the quiet waters, 
and they sit under the shade of a tree when the sun is hot. 
But now the children of Israel were obliged to dig up the 
clay, and to make bricks, and to dry them in the sun; and if 
they did not make a great number of bricks, the men whom 
Pharaoh had sent, beat them. So now they were very 
unhappy: they often sighed and groaned, and shed tears. 

Yet all this hard work did not kill them; so the king 
thought of another plan. He said: Let every boy that is born 
be thrown into the river. He did not order the girls to be 
drowned, because they would not be able to fight with swords 
when they grew up. < 

Whenever the king heard that one of the children of Israel 
had a little boy born, he sent his men to throw it into the 
river. 

There was a very good woman, who had a little boy babe; 
she was one of the children of Israel. This woman knew that 
God would take care of her child. She hid her babe, so that 
Pharaoh's men could not find it. I do not know where she 
put it, but God taught her to hide it in a very safe place. 

When the child was three months old, she found that she 
could not hide him any more. What should she do with him? 

You have heard of the great river of Egypt. Close by the 
river there grew a great many reeds and bulrushes, which are 



104 MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. 

tike very high, thick grass. She took some bulrushes, and 
made them into a large basket. She wished to make a basket 
into which the water could not come; so she got some pitch, 
and covered the basket with pitch. Then she put her little 
boy inside, and took the basket in her arms. No one could 
tell what was in the basket. 

She went to the river-side, and laid the basket among the 
great rushes, close by the water. She knew that God would 
not let the child be killed; and so she left it, trusting in Him. 

She had a little girl much older than the babe. This little 
girl stood a great way off, to see what would become of her 
little brother. Soon she saw ladies walking by the river-side. 
One of them was King Pharaoh's daughter. She was a 
princess. The other ladies were her maids, and they were 
going with the princess to some place where she could bathe; 
for Egypt is a very hot country, and people bathe often in 
hot countries. 

The princess was looking at the rushes, when she sa^' 
something very strange peeping out among them. When she 
saw it, she said to one of her maids, Go, and see what that is. 
So the maid went, and found the basket. She took it up and 
brought it to the princess. The princess opened the basket, 
and saw a sweet babe. It was fair and lovely. 

It began to weep. Poor infant! it was used to lie in its 
mother's arms, but now there was no one to feed it or comfort 
it. The princess pitied the child. She had heard that her 
father had ordered every man-child to be thrown into the 
river, and she said: I suppose this is the child of one of the 
children of Isiael. She did not wish it thrown into the river. 




MOSES BROUGHT BEFORE PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER. 



105 



106 MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. 

The babes sister had come nearer, and saw that the 
princess pitied it; so she said: If you want a nurse, I could 
find you one who would nurse the child for you. The 
princess said: Go. 

Whom did she call ? The child's mother. When she had 
come, the princess said to her: Take this child, and nurse it 
for me, and I will give you wages. 

How glad the mother was to take care of it! She saw that 
God had heard her prayers, and saved her child from being 
drowned. 

The mother could teach him about God as soon as he could 
understand. But when he was a big child, the princess sent 
for him to come and live with her, and she called him her son. 
She gave him a name. 1 shall call him Moses, she said — which 
means "drawn out," for he was drawn out of the water. 

The princess lived in a fine house, and had many servants. 
Moses had beautiful clothes, nice things to eat, and servants to 
wait upon him. He had no hard work to do, yet he was not 
idle, but learned a great many things. The princess told wise 
men to teach him. 

He knew the names of the stars, the beasts, birds, and 
plants. He grew very wise. One thing these wise men could 
not teach him — about God; for they worshiped idols. Yet 
Moses did know about God, for his father and mother knew 
the true God, and when he was a child, Moses lived with them. 
Of all the things Moses knew, this was the best. He was wiser 
than all the men in Egypt, for he knew the true God. 

He was brave as well as wise, and the people in Egypt 
praised him, and paid him respect. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MOSES, OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. 

I have told you how the children of Israel worked making 
bricks. When Moses became a man, he thought, I live in a 
fine house, and am as great as a prince. I have no work to do; 
but my poor cousins, the children of Israel, are working like 
slaves. Cannot I help them? This thought made him very 
sorrowful. 

Do you remember the promise God made to Abraham 
about his children and children's children ? These children of 
Israel were the descendants of Abraham. 

Abraham's child was called Isaac; Abraham's grandchild was 
Jacob; and Abraham's great-grandchildren were Joseph and 
his brothers. Now Joseph's children were Abraham's great- 
great-grandchildren, and their children were his great-great- 
great-grandchildren. The children of Israel called Abraham 
their great-great-great-grandfather; only they had never seen 
him; he died before they were born. 

I will tell you about these great-great-grandchildren ol 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and about their children, and I 
shall call them the Children of Israel. 

God had said that they should live in the land of Canaan — 
that fine land, full of hills and rivers, grass and flowers, sheep 
and cows, milk and honey. God had said to Abraham, I will 
give this land to your children. Not to Isaac, but to his great- 
great-great-great-grandchildren. 

Moses had heard of this promise; probably his mother told 

107 



<8 



MOSES, OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. 



him. He had heard how he had been saved from being 
drowned when a little babe, and he believed that God would 
let him bring the children of Israel into Canaan. He wished to 
save them from being slaves among the wicked people of Egypt 
ahd to make them happy in that pleasant land of Canaan. 







ISRAELITES IN BONDAGE IN EGYPT. 



Moses left the king's fine house and all his fine things, and 
went to the place where the poor Israelites were working 
The children of Israel were sometimes called Israelites. 

He wished to see whether they remembered God's promise 
to Abraham, and whether they wished to go to Canaan. 



MOSES, OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. 



109 



When Moses came to the place the sight he saw was a sad 
one. They were laboring in the heat of the sun. They worked 
from morning to night. They dug up the clay to make bricks; 
that was hard work. When they made the bricks, they put 
them in heaps to dry in the sun. Then they carried them to 




MOSES SMITING THE EGYPTIAN. 



build the great walls for Pharaoh, which was very hard labor for 
these poor men. 

They were forced to make a great many bricks. They 
groaned and cried, but still they were made to do their tasks. 

For the men set them a task; not such a little task as you 



110 ' M0SES f OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. 

have, but a great task. The men said: You must make sv 
many bricks. 

One day he saw one of the task-masters beating one of the 
children of Israel. Moses could not bear to see the pool 
slaves treated so cruelly. Moses looked to see whether there 
were any more task-masters near: he saw no one. So he 
killed the task-master, and then dug a hole in the ground, and 
covered his body over with the earth. 

Do you think it was wrong in Moses to kill the task-master? 
It is very wicked to kill people, for God has commanded people 
not to kill each other. 

But Moses had been sent by God to kill this wicked man, 
that he might show the Israelites that he had come from God 
to make them happy. So it was not wrong in Moses to kill 
the man, because God had sent him to do it. 

One of the Israelites saw him, and soon King Pharaoh 
heard of it, and Pharaoh was very angry, and tried to find | 

Moses, that he might punish him. So Moses was obliged to 
go into a country a great way off, where the king could not 
find him. God loved Moses, and took care of him wherever 
he went. 

Moses might have lived always in a fine house, and ridden 
in a chariot, and had many servants; but you see how much 
he loved the children of Israel. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 

Moses was grieved to have the poor children of Israel 
groaning in Egypt; but he was forced to hide himself from 
Pharaoh. He took nothing with him on his journey — no 
servant or companion. 

At last Moses came to a place where there was grass, and 
a great many sheep. Here, also, there was a well, and he sat 
down by the side of it; for he had taken a long journey. He 
had no house, no bed, and no friends. 

Soon there came seven girls to the well. They were sisters, 
and took care of their father's sheep. They brought their 
sheep to give them water. First they let down pails into the 
well, and then poured the water into troughs that stood near. 
The sheep drank out of the troughs. While they were doing 
this, some shepherds came to the well, and tried to drive them 
away, that their own sheep might drink; but the girls had filled 
the troughs with water and it would have been unfair to have 
taken the water from their sheep. But the men were stronger 
than they were, and often behaved in this way to them. 

Moses did not like to see weak people ill-treated, and he 
was very strong; so he stood up, and would not let the 
shepherds send the girls away, but helped them to draw water 
for their sheep. 

The poor girls thought that Moses was very kind, because 

he was only a stranger, and yet he had helped them. 

When they went home their father said: How is it that you 

in 






112 



MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 



are home so soon to-day? And they said: A stranger was by 
the well, he helped draw water for our sheep. 

Then the father answered: Where is the man? Ask him 
to come and eat bread with us. So the girls called Moses. 

The old father asked Moses to live with him and his 




MT. HOREB. 



daughters; and Moses said he would. Moses took care of ine 
father's sheep, and married one of the girls. Then the father 
became Moses' father-in-law. 

Moses had once been a fine prince, and had ridden in a 
chariot; but now he led his sheep to eat grass among the 
green hills. 



MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 



113 



There was one thing that must have made Moses sad. He 
knew that the children of Israel were still groaning at their hard 
work. King Pharaoh had died; but there was another king 
Pharaoh as wicked as he had been. 

At last the children of Israel cried earnestly to God to help 




MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH. 



them, and God heard their prayers, and He determined to 
save them. 

I presume you have all heard of Mt. Horeb. 

One day Moses was with the sheep among these high hills. 
He was quite alone. He looked up, and saw a bush on fire. 
He saw the bush was still burning, but did not burn up. This 



8 



114 MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 

surprised him very much, and he said: I will go and look at 
the bush, and see why it is not burnt up. 

He was just going up to it, when he heard some one 
speaking. The voice came out of the bush. It was the voice 
of God, who said to him: Moses, Moses! 

He answered: Here am I. 

Then God said: Come not near this place, 1 or I am here. 
I have heard the children of Israel crying, and 1 remember that 
I promised Abraham that his children should live .in Canaan, 
and I am going to send them there. Moses, you must go to 
Pharaoh, and tell him to let them go. 

This was a hard thing for Moses to do, but God said: I 
will be with you, and help you. 

Then Moses said: But perhaps the children of Israel will 
not choose to come out of Egypt. They will say: We will 
not go with you, Moses; you are not speaking the truth. 
What shall I do then ? 

God said that He would teach him to do wonderful things. 
God said: What do you hold in your hand? 

Now Moses had a long stick in his hand, called a rod. He 
used to help his sheep to get out of holes with his rod, and 
when he climbed high hills, he leaned upon it. So when 
God said, What do you hold in your hand? Moses answered, 
A rod. 

Throw it upon the ground, said the Lord. And Moses 
did, and it was turned into a serpent. Moses was afraid of 
the serpent, and began to run away. 

Then God said: Take hold of it by tfo tail. So Moses 
took hold of it, and it was turned again into ? rod. 



MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 115 

God said to Moses: When you go to Egypt, do this 
wonderful thing before the children of Israel, to show them 
that I have sent you: but if they will not believe you, do this 
thing too, that I will show you. Put your hand into your 
bosom. 

So Moses put in his hand, and then he drew it out, and it 
was leprous, that is, it was all covered over with white spots. 
What a frightful sight. 

Then God said: Put your hand in again; and he put it in, 
and pulled it out again, and then it was as well as before. 

Then God said to Moses: If the children of Israel will not 
believe I have really spoken to you, let them see you do this 
wonder. 

But, said Moses, I do not know what words to say. Then 
God told Moses that Aaron, his brother, should go with him 
and speak for him. You have not heard of Aaron before. 
He could speak well, he was a good man, and loved God. 
So God was willing that he should help his brother. 

Moses went back to his father-in-law, and told him that he 
must go back to Egypt; and he took his wife and his two 
little sons with him. 

As Moses was going to Egypt, he met his brother Aaron, 
who was glad to see him, and kissed him. Then Moses and 
Aaron went together to the land of Egypt. 

They found the poor Israelites at their hard work. Aaron 
said to them, God has sent us to tell Pharaoh to let you gc 
to the land of Canaan. Then Aaron did the wonders that 
God had shown Moses when He spoke to him from the bush. 

The people of Israel believed what Aaron said. They 



116 



MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 



wished to go the land of Canaan, and they thanked God for 
having heard their prayers. 

They said, We will go; and they bowed their heads, and 
thanked the Lord for his goodness. 

But Moses could not take them out of Egypt till Pharaoh 
had given him leave. 




PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT. 









CHAPTER XXIh 

MOSES, OR THE FIRST PLAGUES 

The next day Moses and Aaron, and some of the children 
of Israel, went in to speak to King Pharaoh. He was a proud 
and wicked man who worshiped idols. 

Do you think Pharaoh let them go? No; he said: Who is 
the Lord, that I should obey His voice? 

He was now more unkind than before to the children of 
Israel, and ordered the taskmasters to make them work 
harder. 

As Moses and Aaron came out from king Pharaoh, they 
saw some of the children of Israel waiting for them. They 
said: You have done us harm by asking Pharaoh to let us go. 
He makes us work harder than ever. 

It was ungrateful to speak in this manner to Moses, who 
had tried to help them. But he was very meek an^ gentle, 
and he did not answer angrily, but went and prayed to God. 

God told him to go to king Pharaoh, and show him the 
wonder of the serpent. So Moses said to Aaron: Take this 
rod and throw it on the ground. Aaron did so, and it became 
a live serpent; then afterward turned into a rod again. 

Would Pharaoh now say he would let Israel go? No, he 
would not; his heart was very hard. 

So God told Moses to do another wonderful thing. 

Moses and Aaron went early in the morning down to the 
side of the river, and waited there till Pharaoh came to 
bathe. Then they said to him: Because you would not do 

117 



118 



MOSES, OR THE FIRST PLAGUES. 



as God desired, and let Israel go, now you shall see what 
God can do. 

Then Aaron took the rod, and lifted it up over the waters; 
and in a moment, the water was turned into blood. 




AARON CAST DOWN THE ROD. 



When Pharaoh saw this wonder, he turned back, and went 
into his house, and would not obey God. 

The people of Egypt had nothing to drink, for all the water 
n the ponds was turned into blood, and all the water in jugs, 
and basins, and cups, was turned into blood. The fish in the 



MOSES, OR THE FISRT PLAGUES. 119 

iiver died. The water was blood for a whole week, and could 
not be used. 

As Pharaoh would not mind, God sent him another plague. 

Aaron stretched out the rod, and thousands and thousands 
of frogs came hopping out of the river, and out of the ponds. 
They went into the streets, into the houses, into the bedrooms, 
and into the beds; they went into kitchens, and got among the 
food; they even went into Pharaoh's house, and into his bed. 

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said to 
them, Pray God to take away the frogs. I will tell the children 
of Israel to go. 

Moses went and prayed to God, and God made all the frogs 
die; but then Pharaoh said: I will not let the people go. 

So God sent another plague. 

Aaron stretched out the rod, and turned all the dust into 
vile little insects, that crawled over men and over beasts; but 
Pharaoh would not mind this plague. 

Then God sent swarms of flies, that came in at the 
windows, in doors and out of doors. But no flies came near 
the children of Israel. 

Then Pharaoh said: 1 will let you go, if God will take away 
the flies. Then Moses prayed, and God took the flies away. 
Then Pharaoh said again: I will not let the people go. 

So another plague was sent. 

The beasts fell very sick — the horses, camels, cows, and 
the sheep — and many of them died. Yet Pharaoh would not 
let the people go. 

Afterward God made a great many boils come on all the 
men and women and children; but not upon the children of 



120 



MOSES, OR THE FIRST PLAGUES. 



Israel. They were so sick they could not stand; yet Pharaoh 
would not mind, for his heart grew harder and harder. 

I have now told you of six plagues. Try and remember 
what they were. 

1. Water turned into blood. 2. Frogs. }. Small insects, 
4. Flies. 5. Death of the beasts. 6. Boils. 

I shall soon tell you of some more plagues that God sent 
to Pharaoh. 

God was much stronger than Pharaoh, and was able to 
make him do what He commanded, and it was very foolish in 
Pharaoh not to mind God. 













CHAPTER XXIV. 

MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 

One morning Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said: 
To-morrow God is going to rain great hail-stones, such hail- 
stones as were never seen in Egypt before. They will kill all 
men and beasts that are out of doors. 

A great many of the men of Egypt heard Moses and Aaron 
say this. Some of them believed their words. They kept 
their beasts in their stables, and told their servants to keep in 
doors. But some did not believe, and let their beasts remain 
in the field. 

The next day Moses stretched out his rod, and God sent 
thunder, hail, and fire, which ran along the ground. It was a 
dreadful storm — such a storm as was never seen before. The 
noise of the hail-stones, and thunder, made every one tremble. 
But how glad those must have been who were in their houses. 
Many beasts and men were killed, the grass and corn were 
burned up by the fire, and the trees were broken. Yet there 
was no hail where the children of Israel were. 

This storm frightened Pharaoh, and he sent for Moses and 
Aaron, and said: I have sinned; pray the Lord to send no more 
thunder and hail, and I will let the children of Israel go. 

Moses said: I will stretch out my hands to God, and He 
will not send any more thunder and hail; but still 1 know you 
will not obey God. 

Then Moses stretched out his hands, and God rn^de the 
hail and thunder stop, and the rain leave off. 

121 



122 MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 

When Pharaoh saw that the storm was over, he would not 
let the children of Israel go. 

Then Moses and Aaron went to king Pharaoh again, and 
said: God will now send locusts into your country. 

Locusts are insects about the size of a child's thumb. 
Thousands of them fly close together in the air, and they perch 
upon the trees, and eat up the leaves and fruit. 

Moses stretched out the rod, and God made the wind blow 
hard, and next day the wind blew locusts into* Egypt. The 
locusts made the sky look black, as the wind blew them along; 
but they did not stay in the air: they perched on the trees, and 
ate all the fruit that the hail had left; they covered the grass 
and ate it up, and they even came into the houses. 

Pharaoh and his servants thought that they should soon 
have nothing to eat. Pharaoh sent quickly for Moses, and 
Aaron. I have sinned, he said. Only forgive me this once, 
and pray God to take away the locusts, and I will let Israel go. 

So Moses prayed to the Lord. God sent another wind, 
and it blew the locusts away. 

But Pharaoh still said: I will not let Israel go. 

How sad it must have been to have walked in the fields 
after the locusts had been there. It was the pleasant spring, 
but it looked like winter. There were no leaves on the trees, 
there was no tender grass; all was bare as in winter. What 
misery Pharaoh's wickedness had brought upon the land! 

The next time Moses did not tell Pharaoh what God was 
going to do. Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, and 
in a moment God made it darker than ever it is at night, 
except where the children of Israel lived; there it was light. 



MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 



123 



The people of Egypt were frightened. They were doing 
their work, or eating, or walking, when all at once this darkness 
came on. They sat down and never moved, night nor day. 
Now they had time to think of all their wickedness. 

It was dark three days and three nights, and then it grew 
light. 

But was Pharaoh sorry for his wickedness? No; his heart 
was harder than ever. He said to Moses, Get away; you shall 
never see my face again. 

God spoke to Moses 
again, and said: I am going 
to send another plague. 
At night I shall come into 
every house in Egypt, and 
kill the eldest son of every 
person. But this is what 
I desire the children of 
Israel to do. Let each 
man take a lamb, a lamb 
without spot, and kill it, 
and eat it to-night with his family: and let him take the blood 
of the lamb, and put the blood outside the door, and when I 
pass I shall see the blood, and I will not kill the eldest son in 
that house. Let the people in the house stand round the table 
while they eat the lamb. Let them all be dressed ready for a 
journey. 

So all the children of Israel killed young lambs, roasted 
them, and ate them at night. They stood around their tables 
with their walking sticks in their hands. They ate bread with 




EGYPTIAN DOORWAY. 



124 



MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 



the lamb, and bitter herbs. They put blood on the posts of 
the door, for then they knew they were safe. 

The men of Egypt went to bed that night as usual, but in 
the middle of the night the eldest son in each house died. No 
one saw God's angel enter in, but yet he came. No bars nor 




DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN. 



bolts could keep him out; but when he saw the blood on a 
door, then he passed over that house. 

What a dreadful cry the fathers and mothers made in Egypt 
when they found their eldest sons were dead! They rushed 
out of their houses weeping. Our darling son is dead! said 



MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 125 

one. And so is mine! said another. And mine! And mine! 
There never was such dreadful lamenting heard in Egypt 
before. 

Even Pharaoh's eldest son was killed, as well as the sons 
of poor people. Pharaoh rose up at night, and called for 
Moses and Aaron, but it was dark, so that they did not see 
his face. 

Go, said Pharaoh, and take the children of *srael with you; 
they may take their sheep and cows with them, and all that 
they have. 

The men of Egypt begged them to go as fast as possible, 
for they were afraid that God would kill them all. 

Then the Israelites said to the women of Egypt, Give us 
some gold and silver before we go. 

And they said: We will give you whatever you want; only go. 

The Israelites had done a great deal of work in Egypt, and 
it was right they should have some money for it. 

So they gave them a great many beautiful things. 

The Israelites went away in a great hurry. They took 
their things just as they were. They put bread in their bags 
— they drove their sheep, cows, and camels, and asses, 
before them, and set out in the night. 

There was a great crowd of people. More people than 
live in any great town, except London. No little child could 
have counted them. 

So at last try came out of Egypt, where they had been 
slaves so long. God had remembered His promise to 
Abraham. 

God said to Moses: They must never forget my kindness 



126 



MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 



in bringing them out of Egypt. They must eat a lamb every 
year, as they have done to-night. Eating the lamb shall be 
called eating the Passover. This supper was called the Feast 
of the Passover, because God passed over the doors where 
the blood was seen. 




EGYPTIAN ASSES, 



CHAPTER XXV 

MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. 

The children of Israel had begun their journey to Car* an; 
they had to travel a long way before they could reach that 
pleasant place. 

God showed them the way. He went before them in a 
dark cloud. The cloud moved, and they moved after it. But 
a black cloud could not be seen at night, so at night God 
made the cloud shine like fire. When the cloud or the fire 
stopped, then Moses desired all the people to set up their 
tents on the ground. 

As soon as the cloud moved, the people folded up their 
tents, placed them on the backs of their camels, and went on 
their journey. 

The children of Israel went very fast till they came to the 
seaside. Then the cloud stopped, and they set up their tents 
close by the sea. This sea was called the Red Sea; the water 
was like other water, though it was called the Red Sea. 

They had not been long in their tents, before they heard a 
great noise of wheels and horses. They looked, and saw a 
great way off, Pharaoh and a host of soldiers in chariots, 
and on horses. Pharaoh had been sorry that he had let 
them go. 

The Israelites were frightened. They could not get over 
the sea, for they had no ships; yet, if they staid where they 
were, Pharaoh and his men would soon overtake them. What 
could they do? They cried to God to help them. This was 

127 



128 



MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. 



right; but they did something else that was not right, they 
began to speak angrily to Moses. 

It was ungrateful, but he answered them meekly: Do not 
be afraid; God will fight for you, and you shall never see the 
faces of Pharaoh and his men again. 

Then Moses prayed to God; for Moses knew that God 
would save them. 

God said to Moses: Lift up your rod over the sea, and I 

will make a dry path for the 
Israelites to walk upon. 

So Moses lifted up his rod, 
and the waters obeyed him; and 
part of the waters were lifted 
up on one side, and part on the 
other, and seemed like two 
walls of water, while a dry path 
was seen between. 

The Israelites walked in the 
path, and all their cattle with 
them. It was the evening when they began to cross the sea, 
and they were walking across all the night; yet it was not 
dark, because the cloud in the sky shone brightly in the 
night, and gave light; God did not choose that Pharaoh should 
see the light; so God made the bright cloud move backward, 
and it stood in the sky between the Israelites and Pharaoh: 
the bright side was turned toward the Israelites, and the dark 
side toward Pharaoh, so the Israelites saw a bright light. The 
hosts of Pharaoh were in the dark, and they could not go fast 
because it was dark; but the Israelites walked quickly along 




VIEW ON THE RED SEA. 




CROSSING THE RED SEA. 



129 



130 MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. 

the dry path, and by the morning they got to the land that 
was on the other side of the sea. They had not yet got to 
Canaan, but they had got over the sea, and were on their 
journey to Canaan. 

When Pharaoh and his men came to the edge of the sea, 
they saw a dry path through the sea, and the walls of water 
on each side; so they went along the dry path. When they 
had gone about half way across the sea, and were hoping soon 
to overtake the Israelites, God looked at them. Pharaoh and 
his men heard dreadful noises, and they were very much 
frightened. 

They could not make their chariots go on, and they thought 
that God was going to help the Israelites to kill them; so they 
said to each other, Let us turn back. 

But it was now too late; God was going to destroy those 
wicked men : they drove as fast as they could, that they might 
get out of the water, but it was too late; for the walls of water 
fell down and covered them all, and they were drowned in the 
midst of the sea. 

This was the end of Pharaoh and his wicked servants. As 
soon as the Israelites got over, God desired Moses to lift up 
his rod, and let the walls of water fall down and cover the dry 
path. Moses had done as God told him; and Pharaoh 
and his men, who were in the middle of the sea, had been 
drowned. 

Now the Israelites saw that the cruel men could hurt them 
no more. God had punished them for their wickedness, and 
had saved the poor children of Abraham as He had promised. 

This was a happy morning for the Israelites. They thanked 




MIRIAM AND HER MAIDENS. 



131 



132 



MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. 



God for His goodness, and they sung together a beautiful song 

of praise. 

Miriam, the prophetess, took a timbrel in her hand, and 

with all the others rejoiced. 

How pleasant it must have been to see the Israelites sing- 
ing and rejoicing. A little while before, they had been working 
hard in the sun, now they were on their way to a good land, 
where they might live happily. 







'■■■.'■■•«'•' B ,■•:.■■"--■••■."- • 



.■■^■■DMHMHM 








JOSEPHS DREAM 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK. 

The children of Israel were very glad to get away from 
their cruel masters. Now they had no hard work to do, and 
they had a kind master. Ought they not to be good and 
happy? 

They were now in a very large wilderness. There were no 
men nor houses in this wilderness, but there were lions and 
bears, who roared and howled; there were serpents that bite, 
and scorpions that sting; there were no rivers nor brooks, but 
there were high hills, and dark pits. There were scarcely any 
fruit-trees or corn-fields, so that there was very little to eat; 
and the Israelites could not sow grain, nor plant fruit-trees, 
because they were traveling. 

There was such a number of people that they wanted a 
great deal of food to feed them. They had taken but little 
bread with them in their bags, when they left Egypt, and soon 
they ate it up. 

God loved them, and would not let them starve. Still these 
ungrateful Israelites murmured. They went to Moses and 
Aaron, and said: We wish we had died in Egypt. At least, 
we there had bread and meat, as much as we could eat; but 
now we shall be starved. 

How ungrateful they still were to Moses and to God. 

Moses did not answer roughly. He knew that God heard 
their wicked words; and God called to Moses, and said: I have 
heard them, and I will feed them. 

133 



134 MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK. 

Next morning, when they looked out at their tent-doors, 
they saw the ground was white. They looked to see what 
made the ground white, and saw little round white things on 
the ground. They said to each other: What can this be? We 
never saw anything like it before. 

Then Moses said: This is the bread that God has sent you 
from heaven; gather it, and take it to your tents. 

So all the men got jugs, and baskets, and gathered the 
manna for themselves, for their wives, and for their little 
children; and there was enough for them all. They tasted it, 
and found it was as sweet as honey, and they called it 
" manna." 

Then they took it home, and their wives cooked it for 
dinner; they crumbled it, and baked it, and made it into cakes. 
They had manna for breakfast, for dinner, and for supper; 
nothing but manna. It was very nice and wholesome. It was 
more fit for angels than for men to eat, because it came from 
heaven, and did not grow out of the ground as corn does. 
God sent it very early, before it was light, and every one was 
obliged to get up early to gather it, because, when the sun was 
hot, it melted away; so that if the Israelites did not get up 
soon, they had no food. 

Moses said to them: Do not save any of the manna, for 
God will send you some every day. If it is all gone at night, 
do not be afraid; trust God. He will send you more. 

But some of the people chose to save some of the manna. 
They were disobedient. They looked at their manna next 
morning, but it was full of worms. They could not eat it, but 
threw it away. 




MOSES ON THE MOUNT. 



135 



136 MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK. 

Soon afterward the people had no water to drink. There 
was no river in the wilderness, and very few wells or ponds. 

These unbelieving Israelites thought God would let them 
die of thirst. So they went to Moses, and spoke very angrily. 

Why did you bring us up out of Egypt ? You mean to kill 
us, and our little children, and our cattle with thirst. 

They were very angry. Moses did not answer, but began 
to pray to God: What shall 1 do for these people? 

Then God said to Moses: Take your rod, and go up a hill, 
and let some of the people go with you. Then, when you are 
come to a high place, close by a rock, strike the rock, and 
water shall come out. 

So Moses took some people with him, and struck the rock, 
and water came running out. 

The people at the bottom of the hill saw water running 
down like a river, and flovving upon the dry ground. 

What a pleasant sight for the thirsty people! Their mouths 
were dry, and their tongies were stiff, their throats burning, 
but now they might stoop down and drink, or they might fill 
rheir jugs with water. The poor cows, and sheep and horses 
ran to the water to drink. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. 

The Israelites went on through the wilderness, which was 
very large, and it would be a long while before they could get 
to Canaan. 

They soon came to a very high mountain, called Mount 
Sinai. It was the same mountain where Moses had seen the 
bush on fire when he was keeping his sheep. Now he had 
brought the children of Israel to that very place where God 
first had spoken to him. 

The Israelites placed their tents near the bottom of 
the mountain; for the cloud had stopped, and so the Israelites 
knew that they were to wait in that place. 

God told Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, 
for he had something to say to him. So Moses went up. Then 
God said to him: You see how kind I have been to the children 
of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt; go down and ask them 
whether they will do what I command them; if they will, they 
shall always be my people. 

So Moses went down and asked them if they would obey 
God. And they said: Yes, we will do all that the Lord tells us. 

Then Moses went up to the top of the mountain again, and 
told God the people would do all that He commanded. 

Then God said: I am going to let the people hear my 
voice, and they shall see me speaking to you. Go down and 
tell them to get ready. 

o Moses went down and said: In three days you will 



-* 

M 



137 



138 



MOSES, OK MOUNT SINAI. 



hear God's voice, and see him in a cloud at the top of the 
mountain. Get ready. 

So the people washed their clothes, that they might all 
stand in clean white clothes before the Lord. Moses desired 

men to put rails all 
round the mount, 
that no one might 
go up the mount, 
or even touch it; 
even the sheep 
must not eat the 
grass, for it was 
the mount of God. 
In three days, 
early in the morn- 
ing, the people 
heard a loud voice, 
and they all trembled. Moses desirea them to come out of 
their tents, and to look upon God. 

What a dreadful sight they saw. The mountain was shaking 
and moving up and down. On the top a great fire was seen, 
and a thick cloud, and such a smoke went up as filled the sky 
with blackness. There were thunders and lightnings, and a 
sound came out of the fire like the sound of a trumpet, and 
every moment it grew louder and louder. Even Moses himself 
was frightened, and said: I tremble, and am afraid. 

The Lord said to Moses: Come up to me on the top of 
the mount. 

So Moses went up, and all the people saw him go. He 




IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI. 



MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. 139 

went upon the shaking mount, and into the midst of the 
smoke. 

When Moses came up, God said to him: Go tell the 
people not to come up after you, for they must not come up 
this mountain. 

And Moses said : I have put rails round the mount. 

But still God said: Go and tell them not to come near; 
for God knew how bold and disobedient the people were. 

So Moses went down and said: Do not dare to touch the 
mountain. 

Then God spoke very loud indeed, so that all the people 
heard; and as they heard they trembled. 

These are, in substance, God's words: I am the Lord, thy 
God, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt. 

I. < Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

II. Thou shalt not make images, and worship them. 

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, 
in vain. 

IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 

V. Honor thy father and thy mother. 

VI. Thou shalt not kill. 

'VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

VIII. Thou shalt not steal. 

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 

X. Thou shalt not covet. 

God said this on the mount, and then He said no more. 

The people were glad when God had left off speaking, for 
they could not bear the sound of that terrible voice; but while 
He was speaking, they had gone farther and farther away. 



140 



MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. 



Soon they came to Moses, and they said to him: Ask God 
never to let us hear His voice again, it frightens us so much. 
We wish God to tell everything to you, and you can tell us 
what He says. 




MOSES GIVING THE PEOPLE THE COMMANDMENTS. 

So Moses went up again to the dark cloud at the top of the 
mount, and told God what the people had said. They do not 
wish to hear Thee speak to them again, said Moses. 

And God said: They have done well in not wishing to 
hear my voice. 1 shall speak to you, and you shall tell them; 
and oh! that they would obey me, and that 1 might bless them 



MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. 141 

always. God told Moses to come up to Him quite alone, and 
to stay with Him at the top of the mountain; and so Moses 
staid with God forty days and forty nights, and all that time 
he neither ate bread nor drank water; but God kept him alive, 
and talked to him out of the thick cloud. 

At the end of the time, God gave Moses a book. It was 
not made of paper, like the books you have seen, but it was 
made of stone. It had only two leaves, and on those leaves 
very little writing, God had written in it with His own finger. 

You would like to know whit was written in it. God had 
written in it all the words He had spoken in the loud voice 
from the cloud. The ten things God had told the Israelites, 
are called the ten commandments. 

He had written them down that Moses might read them to 
the children of Israel, so that they might never forget God's 
commandments. 






•;r-->-f " "" i "" r ~' 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 

While Moses staid in the mount, at first the Israelites behaved 
well, but at last they grew tired of waiting. They wanted to go 
on to Canaan quickly, but the cloud stopped at the top of the 
mountain, and they were not allowed to go on unless it moved. 
Moses was on the top of the mountain and they began to think 
he would never come back; so they went to Aaron, and said: 
Make us some gods to go before us, for we do not know what 
is become of Moses. . 

This was a wicked thing to ask, but you know they had 
lived in Egypt, where they had seen people worship idols, and 
they had learned to do the same. 

Aaron was afraid that they would kill him if he did not make 
an image that would please them, so he said: Bring me your 
gold ear-rings. And the people did so. 

The women of Egypt had given chem gold before they set 
out on their journey. 

Aaron melted all the ear-rings in the fire, then, when the 
gold was soft, he formed it into an image. He made it in the 
shape of a calf. The people in Egypt worshiped calves, and so 
he chose that animal for them to worship. 

As soon as the Israelites saw it they began to praise it, and 
say: This is he who brought us out of Egypt. Then Aaron put 
it on a high place, and built an altar before it, and said that they 
would have a great feast the next day. 

The next day they rose up early. They spent the day in 

142 



MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 



143 



worshiping the calf. They took their lambs and goats, and 
offered them on the altar, and then rose up to sing. 

You remember that they had promised a little while ago 
always to obey God; but they did not keep their promise. One 




WORSHIPING THE CALF. 



of the ten commandments was: Thou shalt not make an 
image and bow down to it. How soon they broke that com- 
mandment! 

Moses was at the top of the mountain talking with God 



144 



MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 



He did not know what they were doing, but God knew, and He 
said to Moses: Go down; the people you brought out of 
Egypt have made a golden calf, and are worshiping it. I am 
very angry with them, and 1 will kill them all; but I will save 
you and your children. 




MOSES BREAKING THE TABLES OF STONE. 



Moses was grieved to hear that the Lord was angry, and he 
entreated God to forgive the people. Remember, he said, how 
you brought them out of Egypt, and how you promised Abra- 
ham that you would bless his children. And the Lord heard 
Moses' prayer; and determined that He would not kill them all. 



MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 



145 



Then Moses went quickly down the mount, with the book 
of stone in his hand. When he had almost come to the bottom 
he heard the noise of singing, and he knew that it was the 
Israelites praising their calf. At last he came to the tents, and 
he saw the calf, and the people dancing round it, like mad or 




MOSES DESTROYING THE IDOLS. 



drunken people. It was a dreadful sight for Moses to see. 
He grew more angry still, and he threw down the stone book 
upon the ground, and broke it into pieces. The Israelites had 
broken God's law, and Moses broke the book in his grief. 
Moses would not give that stone book to these wicked people. 



10 






146 



MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 



They had thought they should never see Moses again, but 
he had caught them in their wickedness. 

He took the calf, no one trying to hinder him, and threw it 
again into the fire; then afterward ground it into powder, and 




MOSES AND AARON. 






threw it into some water, and made the Israelites drink that 
bitter water. 

Moses was very angry with Aaron for having made the 
calf. Moses said to him: Why did you let the people be so 
wicked ? 



MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 147 

Aaron said: Do not be angry with me; the people chose 
to be wicked, and they asked me to make the calf; I did it to 
please them. 

You have heard how the stone book was broke! 1. God did 
not make a new one Himself, but He called Moses up into the 
mountain again, and then God wrote the ten commandments in 
a new book of stone, which he told Moses to make. God 
talked to Moses as friends talk to one another. He did not 
speak in that loud voice which had frightened th* Israelites. 
Moses liked being with God upon the mountain. God let 
Moses see some of His glorious brightness; but Uod would 
not let him see His face. The angels in heaven see God's face, 
but men upon earth could not bear such brightness. 

Moses ate no bread, and drank no water when he was alone 
with God. 

At last Moses came down again to the people, with the 
stone book in his hand. This time the Israelites were not 
worshiping an image; they came up to Moses to speak to him; 
out when they looked at his face, they were afraid to come near 
nim; even Aaron, Moses' brother, was afraid. 

The reason was, Moses' face shone like the sun, and they 
could not bear such brightness. 

He had been talking with God and looking upon his glory, 
and this had made his face so bright. For God is brighter than 
the sun, and the angels who look upon God are bright like him. 

When Moses knew why the people could not come near 
him, he took a thick veil, and covered his face, for he wanted 
to tell them what God had said. 

Then Aaron and the people came to him. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 

Moses had been w'th God upon the mount a great many 
days. God was showing him how to make a beautiful nouse 5 , 
which was to be " the house of God." God did not need a 
house, for His throne is in the sky. 

Then Moses called the people and said: First, God com- 
mands you to do no work on the Sabbath day, but to worship 
Him; and He is going to have a beautiful house made, where 
you can come and pray to Him. Who will bring me tnings 
with which to make the house ? 

You remember that the women of Egypt had given them 
a great deal of gold, and silver, and cloth, and linen. They had 

made a calf with some of their gold, but they had a great deal 
more besides. 

But do you think they would give these things to God? 
Or would they say: We cannot spare our things; we mean 
to make fine clothes, and to make our tents look pretty 
inside. Do you think they would part with their pretty things? 
Yes, they would. They all went into their tents, after Moses 
had spoken to them. They opened their boxes and their 
baskets, and they took out gold and silver rings and ear-rings, 
and they took out beautiful pieces of cloth; some were blue, 
some were purple, and some were scarlet; and a great deal of 
fine white linen, and skins of sheep and goats, and beautiful 
kinds of wood. They brought all these things to Moses. 

Some of the rich men had beautiful shining stones, and 

148 



MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 149 

sweet spices, and oil; and they brought them all to Moses as 
gifts toward building a house for the worship of God. 

Moses was pleased to see that the people would give their 
things to God, and most of all he was glad that they liked to 
give them. If we feel sorry when we give things, God is not 
pleased. 

Moses called the children of Israel, and said: God has made 
two of you very skillful in cutting stones, in carving wood, and 
in making all kinds of curious things, and He has told me their 
names. 

Then Moses called these two men, and gave them all the 
beautiful things, and said: Now begin to make the house, and 
I shall tell you what you shall make. And Moses called every 
one to help them ; and he told the two skillful men to teach 
the others. 

So all the people began to work. The women spun blue, 
and purple, and scarlet thread and worsted. The men made 
the thread into linen and cloth; they cut the wood with saws 
and hammers ; they melted the gold and silver in the fire, and 
then made altars, candlesticks, shovels, tongs, basins, and many 
other things. They worked hard for many months till all the 
things were finished. 

I will now tell you what sort of a house God had told Moses 
to make, and you will soon see how well he obeyed this com- 
mand of God. 

It was not made of bricks nor stone, because this house 
was to be moved from one place to another; so it was not 
fastened to the ground, but was made like a tent, and could be 
moved easily. 



150 MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 

You never saw so large a tent as this was. It was as big 
as a very large room. It was called the Tabernacle. 

A great many boards were placed upright on the ground, 
and close together. These boards were the walls of the house: 
but there were no boards at the top ; curtains were thrown 
over the house to cover the top. There was no door to the 
house, but a curtain hung down in front, and that curtain was 
used instead of a door. 

There was no floor to the house : green grass was the only 
floor. 

The house was very beautiful; for the boards were covered 
with gold, and the curtains were blue, purple, and scarlet, and 
there were five posts of gold in front, over which a curtain 
hung down for the door. 

The house had two rooms inside. The first room was the 
largest. 

In this room there were three very beautiful things: 

1. In the middle an altar of gold; but no lamps were 
burned upon it, only sweet spices, which gave the tabernacle a 
very sweet smell. The burning spices were called "incense. " 

2. On one side there was a golden table, and on the table 
twelve loaves. They were called the shew-bread, or holy 
bread. There was fresh bread put there every Sabbath day. 

?. On the other side there was a golden candlestick with 
seven lamps. There was no window in the tabernacle, but 
these lamps made it light. 

This room was very beautiful, but there was another room 
still more beautiful. 

It was the inner room, on the other side of the curtain. 



MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 



151 



There was a curtain between the large and the small room. 
This curtain was instead of a door. It was called The Veil. 

In the little room there was a golden box, with golden 
angels on the top. This box was called The Ark. Inside the 
box the book of stone was placed. But what made this room 
so glorious was, that God used to come down in His cloud, 
and fill this small room with His brightness. 

The cloud rested between the golden cherubims, or angels, 
on the top of the box. 

The top of the box was called the mercy-seat, because God 
sat there, and God is full of love and mercy. This little room 
was called The Holy of Holies. 

It had no window in it, and no candle, but yet it was light 
The glory of God made it light, for God, you know, is brightei 
than the sun. 




CHAPTER XXX. 

MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. 

I have told you what kind of a place the tabernacle was. I 
am now going to tell you of some things that were placed out- 
side of it. Houses often have a garden round them. The 
tabernacle had no garden round it, but there was a large piece 
of ground near it, called The Court; and there were posts 
round the court. These posts were placed at a little distance 
from each other, and curtains were hung between the posts; 
so there was a wall of curtains round the tabernacle. 

In this court there were two things, of which I shall speak: 

1 . A brass altar. 

This altar was very large. It was not like the little altar of 
gold inside the tabernacle. This altar was not for the burning 
of spices, but for the bnrning of beasts, such as sheep, goats, 
and calves. You know that God had told people to offer beasts 
to Him as sacrifices. 

This brass altar was for the sacrifices. 

2. A brass basin was placed in the court. It ,was very 
large, and was filled with water for people to wash in. 

God said that Aaron should be high-priest. Aaron was to 
offer the sacrifices, to burn the incense, and to light the lights 
in the candlestick. 

God said that Aaron might go into the little room, the Holy 
of Holies; God would not allow any person but Aaron to go in 
there, and he only allowed him to go in once every year. Aaron 
might lift up the veil, and see the cloud upon the mercy-seat. 



MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. 



155 



Moses might go in as well as Aaron; and God promised to 
speak to him in that little room. 

Goa told Moses to have some beautiful clothes made f<y 




A HIGH-PRIEST. 



Aaron to wear. The two skillful men of whom I told you 
before, knew how to make them. 

1 . He was to wear a white dress with long sleeves. 

2. A robe of blue. He was to wear this over the white 



154 MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. 

dress. Little golden bells were hung round the edge of it; 
and they would sound sweetly as Aaron moved along. 

1. An ephod made of white linen, worked all over with 
purple, scarlet, and gold. Aaron was to wear the ephod over 
the blue robe. 

4. A band round his waist called a girdle. It was made of 
white linen, and was worked with purple, scarlet thread, and 
with gold wire. 

5. A breastplate. Aaron was to wear this in front. It was 
made of linen, covered with twelve shining stones. It was to be 
fastened to Aaron's shoulders by gold chains.. 

6. Aaron was to wear a high white cap upon his head, 
called a mitre. A piece of gold was on the mitre, and on the 
gold was written, Holiness to the Lord. Aaron ought to be 
holy, because he was to offer sacrifices to God. 

He was to wear no shoes upon his feet; but was often to 
wash his feet and his hands in the brass basin. 

\aron had four sons. God said that they should help him 
to offer sacrifices. Aaron's sons were to wear white clothes, 
but not the same beautiful clothes as Aaron. They were to be 
called Priests, and Aaron was to be called High-priest. 

It was a long while before the tabernacle was made. Though 
the people worked very hard, yet the things were not finished 
for almost a year. 

At last God commanded Moses to set up the tabernacle. 

Moses set up the boards for the walls of the tabernacle, and 
covered the top with curtains; and he placed the ark in the 
Holy of Holies; and he put the table, and the candlestick, and 
the golden altar in the largest room; and he set up the posts, 



MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. 



155 



and the curtains, all round the court; and he put the brass altar 
and basin in it. Then Moses poured sweet oil upon all the 
things; pouring this oil was called "anointing." 

Then Moses put upon Aaron his beautiful clothes, and put 
the white clothes upon Aaron's sons; and he poured sweet oil 
upon their heads and anointed them. 

Then God came down in His cloud, and His brightness 
filled the whole place. 




CHAPTER XXXI. 

MOSES, OR THE ISRAELITES' JOURNEY. 

Now the Israelites had a place in which to worship God. 

Every morning the priests offered up a lamb on the brass 
altar, and burned incense on the golden altar in the tabernacle. 
And every evening they offered another lamb, and burned some 
more incense. 

God sent some fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifices 
with, and the priests never let the fire go out. Every Sabbath 
day the priests placed some fresh bread on the golden table, 
and then took away all the old bread, eating it themselves. The 
bread must be fresh on this table. 

While the people had been making the tabernacle, they had 
staid in one place near the great mount, Sinai; but soon after it 
was finished, the cloud of God moved. Then the priests blew 
two silver trumpets, to tell the people that they were to move 
to another place. 

Then the people packed up their tents and furniture, and 
put them on the backs of their camels, for they were going 
away, as they were told to do. 

Then the priests went into the tabernacle, and covered all 
the things in it. Then they gave them to men to carry upon 
their shoulders; but the priests covered the ark with the 
beautiful veil, and carried it themselves. There were two long 
golden sticks fastened to it; the priests held the ends of the 
sticks, and carried it in this way. 

Then the priests had men carry the curtains, the posts, and 

156 



MOSES, OR THE ISRAELITES' JOURNEY. 



157 



the boards of the tabernacle. The priests went first with the 
ark, and all the people followed them, and God in the cloud 
showed them the way. 

When the cloud stopped, the priests and the people stopped, 
and set up the tabernacle. 

In this manner the Israelites traveled all through the 
wilderness. 







CHAPTER XXXII. 

MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. 

At last the Israelites came near the land of Canaan. 

They could see the tops of the high hills that were \n 
Canaan, and they wished to know what sort of a land it was, 
and what sort of people lived in it. 

So the Israelites came to Moses and said: We wish to send 
some men to look at the land; and we wish them to come 
back and tell us what kind of a land it is. 

Moses waited to know whether God would like to have 
some men go. 

Soon God said to Moses: Send twelve men into Canaan 
to see the land. So Moses called twelve of the children of 
Israel, and said to them: Go into Canaan, and walk up among 
the high hills, and look at the land; see whether there are 
many people there, and what kind of people they are; whether 
they are strong or weak; see whether there are many trees, 
and much corn and grass. Bring back some fruit, to show us 
the kind of fruit that grows. 

So the twelve men set out on their journey. These men 
were called spies. They walked up and down the hills, and by 
the side of the water. They saw sweet gardens, and fields 
covered with sheep, and fields full of corn, and trees laden with 
fruit, and they saw holes in the trees, which the bees had filled 
with honey, so that honey dropped to the ground. They saw 
large towns with high walls around them, and they saw many 
strong men, and some of them were giants. 

158 



MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. 



159 



At last they came to a brook or pond. A vine grew by it, 
and on the vine there were ripe grapes; one of the bunches 
was very, very large. They said: Let us carry it back, to 
show to the children of Israel. One man could not carry this 




CARRYING THE GRAPES TO SHOW TO MOSES. 



bunch by himself. So they took a staff or stick, and fastened 
the bunch of grapes to the staff, and one man held one end of 
the staff, and another held the other. The rest of the men 
picked figs and other fruit, and carried them back to the tents. 
The spies were forty days looking at the land of Canaan. 



160 MOSES, OR THE 'TWELVE SPIES. 

When they came back, the people saw the beautiful bunch 
of grapes. There were no such grapes in the wilderness. 
The spies then said: The land of Canaan is a fine land, full 
of milk and honey; but we cannot get into it, for the people 
live in great towns with high walls; they are very strong, and 
some of them are giants. 

Then the children of Israel were frightened, and began to 
weep. 

Ah! said they, we shall be killed if we try to get in. 

It waS wicked to say this, because God had promised to 
help them. 

Two of the spies were very good men; their names were 
Joshua and Caleb. They did not wish to frighten the people; 
and Caleb stood up and said : Let us go into the land, for we 
can conquer the people that are in it. 

But the other ten spies said: No, we cannot; because the 
people of Canaan are stronger than we. 

These ten spies were wicked men, because they knew that 
God had promised to help the Israelites to conquer the men 
of Canaan, and they ought to have told the people to trust 
in God. 

The Israelites cried all night long, and said: Oh! that we 
had died in Egypt, or in the wilderness. The people of Canaan 
will kill us. 

At last they said: Let us go back into Egypt. 

They knew that Moses would not take them back, and so 
they said: We can make another man captain, and he will 
take us back. 

Moses and Aaron heard these wicked words; they were 



MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. 161 

• 

full of grief and they fell down on the ground upon their 
faces. 

Then Joshua and Caleb stood up and said to the people: 
We have seen the land, and it is very beautiful; if we trust in 
God, He will help us. The people of Canaan have no God to 
help them; therefore we ought not to be afraid of them. 

The children of Israel would not listen to Joshua and Caleb, 
but were going to kill them with stones, when God shone 
brightly upon the tabernacle, so that the people saw that He 
was angry. 

Moses was lying on his face on the ground, but God spoke 
to him, and said: How long will this people provoke me? 

Then Moses prayed to God for the people. . 

Oh! pardon this people, he said. Thou hast forgiven them 
many times. 

God heard Moses' prayer, and said: 1 have pardoned them. 
They shall not come into Canaan; only their children shall 
come in. They shall stay in the wilderness forty years, and 
they shall all die in it; and when their children are grown up, 
they shall go into the land of Canaan. But there are two of 
the men who shall go into Canaan; they are Caleb and Joshua. 

Moses told the children of Israel what God had said, and 
when the people heard it, they were very unhappy. 

How sad it was for the people to think that they should 
never see that sweet land of Canaan, but should die in the 
wilderness. Yet they deserved to die, because they had no'; 
believed what God had said. 



11 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

MOSES, OR THE SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. 

The children of Israel lived in the wilderness a great many 
years. They moved about from place to place. 

At last t u ey came to a place where there was no water 

They murmured against Moses and Aaron, as they always 
did when they were unhappy. 

They said: Oh! that we had died before this time! Why 
did you bring us out of Egypt into this wilderness? Here 
there are no figs, no grapes, no kind of fruit; and now there 
is no water to drink. 

They forgot that it was because of their own wickedness 
that they were still in the wilderness; for if they had obeyed 
God, they would then have been sitting under their own 
fruit in Canaan. 

Moses and Aaron were very much grieved to hear them 
murmur. 

God said: Take the rod and call the people, and go to 
the rock and speak to it, and water shall come out of the rock, 
and then the people and the beasts shall drink. 

So Moses took the rod — the rod was kept near the ark. 
Then Moses and Aaron called the people together, and told 
them to look at what they were going to do. 

Moses and Aaron felt very angry with the people, and they 

said: Hear now, ye rebels (which means murmurers), must we 

fetch water for you out of this rock? 

Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice 

m 



MOSES, OR THE SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. 163 

with his rod; and the water came flowing out in streams, and 
the people and the cattle began to drink. 

Do you think that Moses and Aaron had behaved right? 
Had God told them to strike the rock? 

God had said: Speak to the rock. 

Was it right to speak so impatiently, and to say, Must we 
fetch water for you, rebels? 

Moses and Aaron had been in a passion. God was dis- 
pleased with them. 

God loved Moses and Aaron; yet He would punish them 
when they did wrong. He would forgive them and take them 
to heaven, but He would give them some punishment. 

Soon after, God said to Moses and Aaron: Because you 
have done this, you shall not go into Canaan; you shall die in 
the wilderness. 

What a great punishment this was. Moses had often 
longed to see that good land of Canaan; he had often wished 
to see the Israelites happy in their own houses and gardens; 
he had longed to see the place where Abraham had built altars 
and worshiped God; and now he must die in the wilderness. 
He prayed to God to spare him this punishment, but God 
would not. God said: Ask me no more to do this. Then 
Moses knew that he must bear this punishment. 

Moses was the meekest man in all the world. The Israelites 
had often spoken ungiatefully to him, and he had made no 
answer. Yet at last he himself fell into a passion. 

At last the time came for Aaron to die; for God chose that 
Aaron should die first. God said to Moses: Go up to the top 
of the hill with Aaron, and take Aaron's eldest son with you; 



164 MOSES, OR THE SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. 

and Aaron will die on the top, and you must put his c thes 
upon his son. God chose Aaron's son to be high jriest 
instead of Aaron; so he was to wear Aaron's clothes. 

So Aaron put on his beautiful high-priests clothes; his blue 
robe with golden bells, and his shining ephod over it, his 
shining breast-plate, and his white mitre, with the golden 
writing upon it. Then .Aaron walked with Moses and his son 
to the top of the hill, and all the people looked at them. Aaron 
knew that he should never walk down the hill, but he obeyed 
God, and bore his punishment meekly. 

When they were come to the top, Moses took the beautiful 
clothes off his brother Aaron, and put them on Aaron's son. 

Moses parted from his brother Aaron on the top of that 
hill; for there Aaron died. Moses and the son left him dead 
upon the top, and came down the hill together. Then the 
people saw that Aaron was dead, and that there was another 
high-priest. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

MOSES, OR THE SERPENT OF BRASS. 

The children of Israel traveled in the wilder w^- o great 
many years. Sometimes when they were close fc Cairian, the 
cloud moved the other way, and they were obl ; ;.;ed to go on 
traveling. This made them unhappy, for they 'onged to get 
into the happy land of Canaan 

How do you think they bore their punishmer .* You know 
they were always ready to murmur. They spot 2 against God, 
and against Moses. 

God sent them a dreadful punishment this tine. You know 
there were wild beasts and horrible serpents ai\d scorpions in 
the wilderness; but God took care of the Israelii js, so that they 
were not hurt by them; but now God sent '.erpents, whose 
mouths burned like fire. These serpents cam( rushing among 
the tents. The Israelites could not get away. If they climbed 
up a high place, the serpents could climb too, xcid get through 
the smallest places. 

Many of the Israelites were oitten. After they had been 
bitten they grew sick, and got worse and woire, till at last they 
died. There was no medicine that could cure these bites; no 
plaster would make them well; every person who was bitten 
was sure to die. 

The Israelites came to Moses, and said: We have sinned; 
we have spoken against the Lord, and against you; pray to the 
Lord that He take the serpents from us. 

Moses was kind and forgiving, and he prayed for the peopic. 

165 



166 



MOSES, OR THE SERPENT OF BRASS. 



The Lord heard Moses' prayer, and He did more than 
Moses asked; for God not only called away the serpents, but 
He told him how to cure the people who were bitten. 

He did not tell Moses to give them medicine, or to put a 
plaster over the bites. He said: Take some brass, and make 




THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 



it into the image of a serpent, and put it on a pole, and tell the 
people who are bitten to look at it; and those that look shall be 
made well. 

Moses believed God. He took some brass, and made it 



MOSES, OR THE SERPENT OF BRASS. 



\61 



soft In I he fire; and then made it like one of the fiery serpents, 
and pii it on a pole, and lifted it up where every one could see 
it, and called to the sick people to look quickly at the serpent, 
and be made well. 

The people who were bitten could crawl to the doors of 
their tents, and lift up their dying eyes toward the serpent. 
After they had looked, their pain went away; they felt well and 
strong;; they could walk and praise God. 




VIEW ON THE NILE. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE DEATH OF MOSES. 

The time had almost come for Moses to die. The Israelites 
were soon to go into Canaan, but Moses was not to go there 
with therii. 

Moses had written a great many books; and now he had 
almost finished them. 

He had written about how God made the world, how Adam 
ate the fruit, how Cain killed Abel. He had written about 
Noah and Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob; he had written about 
Joseph and his wicked brethren; he had written about himself, 
how he had been saved from the water when he was a babe. 
He had written about the ten plagues and the ten command- 
ments and the tabernacle; he had written about his own sin. 
All I have told you, Moses had written down in five books; 
they have all been copied into other books, and we can read all 
Moses wrote, for it is in the Bible. 

Moses did not write in such books as you have seen. His 
paper was rolled up like a piece of cloth. He wrote five rolls; 
and these he called his books. If you had read in Moses' 
book, you must have unrolled it as you read it. 

When Moses had done writing his books, he called the 
priests, and told them to take care of them. Moses said to 
them: You must read these books to all the Israelites, to the 
men, the women, and the little children, that they may know 
how to please God. 

Moses wished that some good man should take care of the 

168 






THE DEATH Oh MOSES. 169 

Israelites after he was dead; for he loved them very much, 
though they had behaved ill to him. So Moses begged God to 
give them to the care of some good man; and God heard his 
prayer, and said to Moses: 1 have found a man who will take 
care of the children of Israel after you are dead. 

Who do you think this man was? It was Joshua, one of 
the good spies; he had helped Moses to do God's work for 
forty years, so that Moses had taught him a great deal. Moses 
was glad that Joshua would take up his work. 

Moses called Joshua, and said to him: God will let you 
take the children of Israel into Canaan; you must be very 
brave, for you will have to fight against the wicked people; but 
God will help you, so do not be afraid. God will never leave 
you, nor forsake you. 

Moses wished to speak to the people before he died, and 
advise them to be good; so Moses called all the people together, 
and told them he was going to die. I am very old, said he; I 
am a hundred and twenty years old this day. I offended God, 
and I must not go into the land of Canaan; but Joshua will 
take you there. Remember to obey God, and to love Him, 
and he will always bless you; but if you worship idols, and are 
wicked, God will punish you. 

God told Moses to teach the people a song, that they might 
cing it after he was dead. 

After Moses had taught the people the song, he blessed 
them, and left them forever. 

God said to Moses: Go up that high mountain alone. I 
cannot let you go into Canaan, but I will let you see the beauti- 
ful land of Canaan from the top of that mountain. 



70 



THE DEATH OF MOSES. 




MOSES' VIEW OF THE PROMISED LAND. 



Moses was glad that he might see Canaan, though he might 
not go in. So Moses went up the mountain alone. He was 
very old, yet he was not weak; he could walk as well as when 
he was young, and he could see as well, for his eyes were not 
dim; he read and wrote, and saw things far off. 

I think the Israelites must have felt very sad when they 
saw Moses go up all alone, and when they knew they should 
see him no more. 

When Moses was at the top of the hill, he looked and saw 
the land of Canaan a great way off. It was a beautiful land, 




MOSES. 
171 



172 



THE DEATH OF MOSES. 



full of green hills and rivers, of fields ripe with corn, trees 
laden with fruit. 

When Moses had looked at the land, he died. No friend 
was near to close his eyes, or to hear his last sigh. 

God himself buried Moses, not upon the top of the hill, 
but in some secret place under the hill. No one knows where 
Moses lies but the angels, who carried his soul to God. 




PLOWING IN EGYPT. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. 



The Israelites were now close to the land of Canaan. They 
were sorry that Moses was dead; but Joshua was left to take 
care of them, and tell them what to do. God would speak- to 
Joshua, and he would tell them what God said. 

The Israelites would soon have to fight the wicked people 
who lived in Canaan. God chose that they should be killed 
for their wickedness, and God chose that the Israelites should 
live in their land instead of them. 

There was a great river between the wilderness and Canaan 
which the Israelites would be obliged to cross. They could see 
the green hills of Canaan on the other side of the river, and 
they saw a great town also, with high walls all round it. This 
town was called Jericho. It was in Canaan, and wicked people 
lived in it. The Israelites knew that they would soon have to 

fight against the people who lived in this town. 

Joshua told two of the Israelites to go to the town, and to 
come back, and tell him about it, and about the people. These 
men were called spies, because they were sent to spy, or look 
at the town. 

Joshua did not wish the people of Jericho to know when 
these two spies came into the town, lest the wicked people 
should kill them. So they went when it was almost dark. The 
spies got over the river, there was one place in the river where 
the water was not very deep, and where people rould get over. 
This was called a ford. 



173 



174 



JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. 



The gate of Jericho used to be shut when it was daik; but 
the spies came just before the gate was shut. They went to 
the house of a woman named Rahab, who kept an inn. Her 
house was built upon the wall of Jericho. Some people had 
seen them, and these people went and told the king of Jericho 
that two Israelites were in Rahab's house. The king of Jericho 

knewthatthe Israelites meant 
to come and fight against 
him; so he wanted to kill 
these two spies, and he sent 
some men to Rahab's house 
to get them. But God put 
it into Rahab's heart to be 
kind to them. Rahab had 
taken the spies to the top of 
her house to hide them. The 
roof of her house was not slanting, like the roof of your house; 
it was flat, like the floor. On the roof of Rahab's house there 
were a great many stalks of flax. Flax is a plant; and its stalks 
are made into thread. Rahab had spread these stalks upon the 
roof of her house to dry. When the spies had climbed up the 
stairs, she told them to lie down; and she covered them over 
with the stalks, so that no one could see them. 

The men who went to bring the spies to the king of Jericho, 
could not find them; so they looked for them outside the city, 
among the hills, and by the riverside. 

When the king of Jericho's men were gone, Rahab crept up 
the stairs to speak to the spies. It was night, so she could talk 
to them on the roof without being seen. The men came from 




ON THE HOUSE TOP. 



JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. 



175 



i *<ier the heaps of flax. Rahab had been taught to worship 
iduis; but you see that she now believed in the true God, and 
net in idols. She was very much afraid lest, when the Israelites 
should come over the river to fight against Jericho, they would 




ESCAPE OF THE TWO SPIES. 



kill her <>nd her friends; so she begged the spies to save her 
and those she loved. 

Poor Rabat said: 1 know that God will let the people of 
Israel come and live in Canaan. Everybody is frightened lest 
you should till them. We have heard how your God helped 
you to pass through the Red Sea. I know that your God is 



176 



JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. 



the only true God. I have been kind to you, and will you be 

kind to me? 

The spies said: If you will not tell anybody about our 

having come here, we promise to save your life, and the life of 

your father and mother, and brothers and sisters. 

Then Rahab helped the spies to get out of the town. It was 

night, and the gates were shut. If the spies waited till morning, 

the people of Jericho would see 
them going out, and would kill 
them; but Rahab found a way of 
letting them go. 

Her house was built on the wall 
of Jericho; one of the windows in 
her house looked toward the green 
hills outside of Jericho. This win- 
dow was high; so Rahab took a 
rope, and tied the rope round one 
of the men, and let him down from 

the window; and then she tied the rope round the other man, 

and let him down. 

When the men were standing on the ground outside the 

wall of Jericho, they called to Rahab, who was looking out of 

the window, and said: Take that red rope, and bind it to your 

window; bring your father and mother, and brothers and 

sisters, into your house. 




RAHAB'S WINDOW. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

JOSHUA, OR THE RIVER JORDAN. 

The people of Israel were now close to Canaan; but a deep 
river ran between the wilderness and Canaan — the river Jordan. 
How were the Israelites to get over the river? 

You shall hear what God told Joshua to do. 

Joshua rose up early in the morning, and he said to the 
people: Look and see where the priests take the ark, and 
follow them; but do not go too near. 

Then Joshua said to the priests: Take up the ark, and 
walk on. 

The ark was a golden box, covered with a blue cloth, that 
none might see it, or see the golden angels on the top. Two 
long sticks were run through little rings joined in the ark, and 
the priests held the ends of the sticks. 

The priests took up the ark when Joshua bade them. They 
went to the edge of the water, not knowing what they were to 
do. They were dressed in white, and their feet were bare. 

Joshua called to them to stand still. Then he said to the 
people: You will see a great wonder that God is going to do; 
when the priests put their feet \^ the water, a dry path shall 
be made. 

All the people had come out of their tents. 

They had got all their things ready for the journey, and 
were looking at the priests. 

As soon as the priests touched the water, it stood up like 
a wall on each side, and there was a dry path made through the 

12 177 






178 



JOSHUA, OR THE RIVER JORDAN. 



river. The priests walked along, till they came to the middle 
of the river; then they stopped, and Joshua said to the people: 
Now, pass over Jordan. 

While the people were crossing, the priests stood still in the 
middle of the river. At last, all the people got over into the 




ISRAEL CROSSING THE RIVER JORDAN DRY SHOD. 

land of Canaan, except twelve men that Joshua had told to 
stay on the other side. 

Joshua said to them: See where the priests are standing; 
there are great stones lying near them; take up twelve great 
stones, and bring them over with you into Canaan. These 




ISRAELITES PASSING JORDAN. 



179 



180 



JOSHUA, OR THE RIVER JORDAN. 



twelve men walked through the dry path; each took up a great 
stone in his arms, and carried it to the other side. Then Joshua 
said to them: Put the twelve stones by the side of the river 
in Canaan. 

The stones were to be put there that the people might 
never forget this great wonder of making a path in Jordan. 




ISRAELITES BEING CARRIED. 



God knew, that a long time afterward, little children would see 
the twelve stones, and would say to their fathers: What are 
these stones for? 

Then their fathers would say: These stones were once at 
the bottom of the water; but God made a path for us, and we 




JOASH READING THE LAW. 



JOSHUA, OR THE RIKER JORDAN. 181 

have put the stones here, to keep God's kindness in our 
minds. 

All the time the twelve men were walking through with the 
stones, the priests were standing still in the river. 

At last Joshua said to the priests: Come up out of Jordan. 
So the priests came up out of the river. When they put their 
feet on the dry land, the water rolled back again, and the river 
looked as it had done before. 

How happy the Israelites must have been. They had 
wandered forty years in the wilderness, but at last they had 
arrived safely in Canaan. God had been very good to them, 
and he would help them to fight against the wicked people of 
Canaan. 

The king of Jericho saw the Israelites come over the river. 
He could look at them from his high walls. He was very much 
frightened, and so were all the people in Jericho. Only Rahab 
was not frightened; she knew she was safe; she believed in 
the true God. 

The priests put down the ark; all the Israelites set up their 
tents, and waited outside Jericho. 

The gates of Jericho were kept fast shut, that the Israelites 
might not get in; no one in Jericho went out, and no one 
came in. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 

The children of Israel had placed their tents all round the 
city of Jericho, but they waited till God told them what to do. 
They could not get through the strong gates, unless God 
helped them. 

Joshua was the captain of the Israelites. He was very 
brave. He trusted in God to help him. 

One day Joshua, when outside of Jericho, looked up and 
saw a man standing before him a little way off. The man 
looked like a soldier, and he held a sword in his hand. Joshua 
knew that this man was not one of the Israelites; but he could 
not tell who he was. - 

Joshua went up to the man, and said: Are you come to 
help us fight; or are you come to help the people of Jericho? 

The man answered: I am come as captain of the army of 
the Lord. 

Now Joshua knew who this man was. 

He was greater than a man, greater* than an angel. He was 
the Lord from heaven, even Jesus Christ. 

When Joshua knew who the man was, he fell down with 
his face upon the ground, and worshiped Him, saying: What 
will my Lord say to His servant? 

Joshua called himself God's servant. 

Then the great Captain of God's army said to Joshua in 
a loud voice : Take your shoes from off your feet, because 
this is holy ground where you stand. 

182 



JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 



183 



Then Joshua took them off, and waited to know what the 
Lord would say to him. 

Why was the ground holy? Because God was there. You 
know the priests wore no shoes when they walked in God's 
house. 

The Lord told Joshua how he was to fight against Jericho, 




A LEVITE. 



Such a way of fighting was never known before. 

When the Lord had gone back to heaven, Joshua called the 
priests, and all the people of Israel, and showed them what they 
must do. Joshua told some of the priests to take up the ark 



184 



JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 



Then he called seven more priests, and said: Each of you 
must take a ram's horn, and blow with it, like a trumpet, and 
walk before the ark. Yoi 1 know that a ram is a sheep, and has 
crooked horns. 

Then Joshua called all the soldiers, and told them to go 




DESTRUCTION OF JERICHO. 



before the priests, and he told the rest of the people that had 
no swords or spears, that is, the women and children, to walk 
behind the priests. 

You never saw such a great number of people walking along. 



JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 185 

Before they set out, Joshua told them not to make any 
shoutings, but to wait till he said, Shout. 

Soldiers shout when they have conquered. The Israelites 
were not to shout till Joshua told them. 

•The people of Jericho heard the trumpets blowing, and they 
saw the men with swords and spears. 

I dare say they thought the Israelites were going to shoot 
their arrows over the walls, and try and beat down the walls. 
Rahab took care to keep in her house, with all her dear friends. 
The Israelites walked once round Jericho, and then Joshua 
brought them back to their tents. 

The next day Joshua made the people and the priests walk 
round once more, and then brought them home again. Then, 
next day after, they went round again; and the next day, and 
the next day. Six days, one after the other, they walked round 
Jericho, and came home to their tents again, without having 
fought. 

The Israelites behaved well in doing as Joshua told them, 
instead of asking why they must walk round. 

At last, after six days, Joshua told the Israelites to get up 
very early, as soon as it was light. He told them to walk all 
round as before; but when they had walked round, he did not 
tell them to go back to their tents, but to walk round again. 
That day they walked round seven times; they spent the whole 
day in walking round and round the city of Jericho. 

When they had finished walking round the seventh time 3 
Joshua said to the people: Now when the priests blow again 
with the trumpets, you may shout; for God has given you the 
city. You will soon get in; you must kill all the people except 



186 JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS 0? J^xJCHO. 

Rahab and her frie'nds that are in her house. You will find 
many beautiful things in Jericho; but you must not keep any- 
thing yourselves; but you must bring the cups of gold and silver 
and brass and iron to the Lord; bring all you find to the house 
of the Lord. 

When Joshua had done speaking, the priests blew again with 
the trumpets, and the people gave a great shout. At the same 
moment, the walls of Jericho fell down. How horrible was the 
crash of those great walls. Now the men of Jericho saw that 
the day had come when they must die. 

The two spies ran quickly to Rahab's house, and brought 
her out, and her father and mother, and brothers and sisters, 
and led them to a safe place near the tents of the Israelites. 
Rahab and her friends brought all their things with them out of 
the house, so they could make tents and live together. 

But what happened to the people in Jericho? They were 
all killed; the men, the women and the children. The Israel- 
ites killed them with their swords. Then they set fire to the 
houses, and burnt them up; but the cups and basins made of 
gold and silver and brass and iron, they brought to the priests 
for God's house. 

All the other people in Canaan heard about Jericho, and 
they were more frightened than before. They said: What a 
great captain Joshua is ! 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



JOSHUA — HIS DEATH. 

There were a great many other cities in Canaan besides Jericho. 

The Israelites fought against the 
other cities. 

All the people in Canaan heard 
of it, and were afraid of Joshua; but 
still they took their swords ar/ 4 
spears, and fought against him. 

God always helped the Israelites; 
so they always conquered. They 
went all through Canaan. First they 
went to one city, and slew the people 
in it, as God had commanded them 
to do; then they went to another 
city, and slew the people in it; so 
they went to many cities, till they 



J) 






8sS" 



'Jsfeii 



ut 



of 



Mslut 






FRUITS OF PALESTINE. 



187 



188 



JOSHUA- HIS DEATH. 



had slain a large part of the people in Canaan. God did not 
make the walls of the other cities to fall down, like the walls 
of Jericho; but the Israelites were obliged to fight very hard 
before they could get in. 

At last Joshua said to the children of Israel: Now the 
oeople of Canaan are dead, I will give you places to live. So 

he gave to each of the Israelites 



*?&&&. 



a house, full of nice and con- 
venient things; a garden, a field, 
and a well of water. 

Now the Israelites rested. 
They sat down under the fig- 
trees and vines in their own 
gardens, and ate the figs and 
grapes that grew on them, and 
they drank water out of the wells 
in their gardens. 

The Israelites lived in the 

houses of the people of Canaan. 

The wicked people had built the 

houses, and dug the wells, and 

planted the trees in the garden; but God had taken them 

away from these wicked people, and had given them to tHe 

Israelites. 

There was one thing which Joshua did not forget to do, 
that was to place the tabernacle in Canaan. He set it up at a 
place called Shiloh. The Israelites would not be obliged to 
r we it about any more. 

Joshua told them to come uj. and worship God in the 




FIG TREE AND FRUIT. 



JOSHUA- HIS DEATH 189 

tabernacle; but some lived so far off that they could not come 
often. So they came occasionally to the tabernacle. 

God warned the Israelites not to worship the idols that the 
wicked people had made. The Israelites would find these 
idols in the fields and gardens, and some were made of silver 
and gold; but they were not to keep them, even if they were 
pretty; they were not to take the idols into their houses, but 
were to burn them in the fire, because God hated idols. 

At last Joshua grew very old, and he knew that he must die. 
So he called a great many of the Israelites together, that he 
might speak to them. 

He stood near a great oak tree while he spoke. He said: 
I am soon to die. After I am dead, will you worship idols, or 
will you worship God, who has been so kind to you? 

They all said: We will worship God. 

Then Joshua said: If you choose to worship God, you 
must not worship idols too. 

Then they answered: We will serve God. 

Now, said Joshua, you have promised to serve God only. 
You must keep your promise. 

Then Joshua took a book and wrote down what the people 
had said. Afterward Joshua took a great stone, and set it up 
under the oak, and said: See this stone; I have put it here to 
make you remember your promise. 

Very soon afterward Joshua died. He was more than a 
hundred years old. 



CHAPTER XL. 



SAMUEL, OR THE PIOUS MOTHER. 



You have heard how the Israelites came into Canaan. 1 
shall now tell you what happened to them in Canaan, after 
Joshua was dead. 




HANNAH'S PRAYER. 



You remember that the tabernacle was placed in Shiloh. 
The high-priest lived in Shiloh, that he might offer sacrifices in 
the tabernacle. 



490 




LITTLE SAMUEL LEFT IN THE TEMPLE. 



191 



192 SAMUEL, Ok THE PIOUS MOTHER. 

! am now going to tell you of a high-priest called Eli. 

Eli was a very good old man. A great many people used 
to come up every year to Shiloh, to worship God in the 
tabernacle. 

Among the people who came up to worship, was a man 
who had two wives. People might have two wives a long 
while ago, though they must not have two now. 

One of these wives was a very good woman; her name was 
Hannah, but she had no child. The other wife was unkind 
and wicked; but she had many children. The unkind wife 
laughed at Hannah, and said that God gave Hannah no child 
because He did not love her. This was not true, for God 
loved Hannah very much. Poor Hannah used sometimes to 
cry when the other wife spoke unkindly to her. 

Once, when Hannah came to Shiloh, and the other wife had 
been laughing at her, she went to the tabernacle to pray to 
God. Eli was in the court of the tabernacle. He was sitting 
upon a high seat, and saw her come into the court. Now 
Hannah was praying to God in a very low voice, and her eyes 
were red with weeping. When Eli saw her, he thought she 
had been drinking wine, and spoke roughly. But she answered 
very meekly, and said: I have not been drinking wine; I have 
been praying to God, for I am very unhappy. 

When Eli heard this, he spoke kindly, and said: May God 
give you what you have been asking for. 

She had been praying for a little child, and she had been 
promising God to bring him up to serve God, and to teach 
people about God. 

Hannah was very glad when Eli spoke so kindly to her, and 




SAMUEL AND HIS COAT. 



193 



194 SAMUEL OR THE PIOUS MOTHER. 

she wiped away her tears, and she went home looking quite 
happy; and God gave her a little babe, and she called his name 
Samuel. 

While Samuel was a babe, Hannah did not go up to Shiloh; 
but when he was a little child about three or four years old, 
she took him up to Shiloh with her. 

Hannah did not forget her promise to teach her child about 
God; and she did not mean to keep him always at home with 
her, though she loved him very much. She wished the good 
old high-priest Eli to bring him up, and teach him. So she 
brought the child to Eli, and said: I am the woman that you 
once saw in the court of the tabernacle, praying to God; I was 
praying for this child, and God has heard my prayer, and I 
wish the child to be brought up to serve God. 

Eli took the little boy to live with him. Hannah sung a 
beautiful song of praise to God for His goodness in hearing 
her prayers, and then she left her dear little Samuel, and she 
went home again with her husband. 

Do you think she ever came to see her child? Yes, every 
year, and she always brought him a present of a dress, such as 
the people wore in those days. It was a linen dress, and had 
long sleeves. God had put His spirit into Samuel's heart. He 
liked serving the Lord in the tabernacle, and seeing the sacri- 
fices offered, and hearing the Lord praised. As he grew older, 
he pleased God more and more, and a great many people loved 
him. How glad Hannah must have been when she came to 
see him, to hear that he was a good child. It makes your 
parents, dear children, very happy to hear that you are good. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

SAMUEL, OR THE LITTLE PROPHET. 

Eli and Samuel did not live in the tabernacle, but in some 
tents very near it. Eli had two sons, who were grown-up men. 
and they were priests, and offered sacrifices at the altar. 

I suppose you think that Eli's sons were good, because Eli 
was good;- but I am sorry to tell you that they were wicked 
men. They did not love God; they only cared for eating, and 
amusing themselves. 

Eli heard of the wicked things that his sons did; and he 
said: Why do you do such wicked things? Everybody tells me 
of your wickedness. Oh! my sons, the Lord will be very 
angry, and will punish you. But they would not mind what 
their father said, but went on in their bad ways. 

At last a good man came to Eli, and told him that Goa was 
very angry, and that he would let both his sons be killed in 
one day. 

One evening old Eli was lying in bed; and little Samuel was 
lying in another bed a little way off. Samuel heard a voice 
calling him: Samuel ! Samuel thought that Eli called him, and 
he answered: Here am I. And then he got out of bed and 
ran to Eli, to know what he wanted. See what a kind little 
child Samuel was, and how ready he was to wait upon 
old Eli. 

But Eli said to Samuel: 1 did not call you. Then Samuel 
went and lay down again. 

Soon afterward Samuel heard some one calling again; so he 



196 SAMUEL, OR THE LITTLE PROPHET. 

went again and said: Here am I. But Eli said: I did not call, 
my son; lie down again. 

Then Samuel lay down, and he soon heara the voice again, 
saying: Samuel ! Then he felt sure that it was Eli who called 
him, and he went to him and said: Here am I. 

. Eli told Samuel to lie down aga ! n, and when he heard the 
voice, to answer: Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. 
Samuel was to call himself God s servant. 

So Samuel went and lay down again, and soon the Lord 
came and stood by him, and called as before: Samuel, Samuel ! 
Then Samuel answered: Speak, for Thy servant heareth. God 
had never spoken to Samuel before. Samuel must have longed 
to know what He had to say to him. ■ t was something sad 
and dreadful; it was about Eli. 

God told Samuel that He should soon punish Eli's sons for 
their wickedness, and that he was displeased with Eli for not 
having punished them. 

After God had done speaking, Samuel remained in his bed, 
and Eli did not call him. 

So when the morning came, Samuel began to open the 
doors round about the tabernacle; for it was his business to 
open the doors. Soon Eli called Samuel; he wanted to know 
what God had said to him. Eli begged Samuel to tell every- 
thing to him, and to hide nothing from him. Then little Samuel 
told Eli all that God had said. 

After this, God often spoke to Samuel, and told him how 
He would punish wicked people; and Samuel used to tell 
people what God had said. All that Samuel told them came 
true. He was a prophet. A prophet is a person to whom the 



SAMUEL, OR THE LITTLE PROPHET. 



197 



Lord tells what He means to make happen, so that he can tell 
others and warn them. 

People paid great attention to what Samuel said, but still 
many people went on doing wicked things. The people in 
Shiloh were very wicked, and God determined soon to punish 
them, as well as Eli's sons. 




LILY OF PALESTINE 



CHAPTER XLII. 

SAMUEL, OR THE ARK IN THE BATTLE. 

I shall tell you soon how God punished Eli's sons; but first 
I must speak to you of some people who lived in the land of 
Canaan, called the Philistines. 

They were wicked people, who worshiped idols, and hated 
the Israelites; they often fought against the Israelites, and took 
away their things. When God was pleased with the Israelites, 
He did not let the Philistines hurt them. 

One day a great number of Philistines came out of their 
towns to fight against the Israelites. They brought tents, and 
slept in them at night. The Israelites heard that the Philistines 
were coming to fight against them; so a great number of them 
took their swords and spears, and placed their tents near the 
tents of the Philistines. In the morning the Philistines and 
the Israelites fought with each other. God did not help the 
Israelites, as he used to do, so the Israelites were frightened, 
and ran back into their tents. 

Now the Israelites ought to have prayed to God; but instead 
of praying, they said. Let us send for the ark of God. If 
the ark were here, we should be able to conquer the Philistines. 

You remember that the ark was a golden box, on which 
God sometimes sat in a cloud. 

The Israelites sent a man to Shiloh to ask the priests to 
bring the ark. The sons of Eli were priests. They brought 
the ark to the tents of the Israelites. When the Israelites saw 
the ark, they were delighted, and they gave a very loud shout 

198 



SAMUEL, OR THE ARK IN THE BATTLE. 



199 



to show their joy. The shout could be heard a great way off. 
The Philistines heard the shout, and they asked why the 
Israelites shouted. Soon they heard that the ark of the God 
of Israel was come to the tents of the Israelites. Then the 
Philistines were afraid, and said, If the God of the Israelites 




DEATH OF ELI. 



should help them, what should we do? for their God once 
killed Pharaoh and all his men, and He could kill us too. Ohl 
let us be very brave, and let us fight with all our strength. 

So the Philistines and the Israelites came out of their tents 
to fight, and the priests brought the ark on their shoulders. 



2oo SAMUEL, OR THE ARK IN THE BATTLE. 

But God did not help the Israelites. A great many ot 
them were killed; and the two sons of Eli were killed, as God 
had said. 

The Philistines took the ark of God. How pleased they 
were to get it! They carried it back to the towns where they 
lived. 

Eli had not come to the battle. He had staid in Shiloh; he 
was very unhappy about the ark. He wanted to know what 
had become of it; so he sat upon a high seat just at the gate 
of Shiloh. 

At last a man came running along the road; he had been 
fighting in the battle, and he came to tell the people in Shiloh 
all that had happened. He had put dust upon his head, and 
had torn his clothes, to show that he had sad news to tell. 
But Eli was old and blind, and did not see the man. When the 
man told the people in Shiloh what had happened, the people 
cried out very loud with grief; and Eli heard them crying, and 
asked why they cried; then the man answered, 1 am just come 
from where the Israelites were fighting. A great many Israel- 
ites have been killed, and your two sons are dead, and the ark 
of God is taken. 

When Eli heard this he was very unhappy; he was sitting 
on a high seat that had no back, and he fell backward in his 
grief and broke his neck; for he was a very old man, and very 
heavy. He was almost a hundred years old. 

How grieved Samuel must have been when he heard how 
Eli had died I 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



SAMUEL, OR THE GOD DAGON. 



The Philistines were much delighted at 
getting the ark, for they knew it belonged 
to a great God. The Philistines took the 
ark to one of their cities, and put it in the 
house of their idol. This idol's name was 
Dagon. The Philistines had made an image 
like a man, and they called it Dagon ; they 
had built a house for Dagon, and had set 
Dagon up on a high place. They used to 
come and worship very often in this house. 

The Philistines left the ark all night in 
the house of Dagon: the next morning they 
got up early, and went into the idol's house. 
But what do you think they saw when they 
went in? They saw their idol Dagon fallen 
down from the high place, and lying upon his face prostrate 

before the ark. 

God had thrown Dagon down. He wished to show the 
Philistines that He was stronger than idols. 

The Philistines were not sure that it was God who had 
done this; so they lifted up Dagon and set him in his place 
again, and left him. 

The next morning they rose early, and came into the idol's 

house. 

201 




202 SAMUEL, Ok THE GOD DAGON. 

Again Dagon had fallen down upon his face before the ark; 
and this time Dagon was broken; his head and his hands were 
broken off. The Philistines were sorry their idol was broken. 
I do not know whether they mended their idol, or whether they 
set him up again; but God soon made something much worse 
happen to the Philistines. God made them very ill indeed, and 
full of pain. They said to one another, What shall we do with 
the ark? for it shall not stay in this city any longer. So they 
sent it to another city, where some other Philistines lived. 

But they fell very ill indeed, and a great many died. So the' 
people of that city sent it to another city. The people of the 
other city were frightened when they saw the ark coming. 
They said, We too shall die, now the ark is brought here. 

Soon they fell very ill, and a great many of them died, and 
the city was full of people groaning and crying. 

At last the Philistines thought they would send the ark back 
to the Israelites; but they did not feel quite sure that the God 
of Israel had been angry with them for keeping the ark. 

They made a plan for sending it back. Their plan was this: 
We will take two cows that have never drawn a cart before; 
and we will tie them to the cart, and we will shut up their 
calves. No one shall drive the cows, but we will see what they 
will do. If the cows leave their calves, and go to the place 
where the Israelites live, then we shall be quite sure that it was 
the God of Israel who made us so ill, to punish us for keeping 
the ark. 

This was the plan of the Philistines. They had heard how 
God once sent plagues on Pharaoh. They said, We will not 
harden our hearts, as Pharaoh and the people of Egypt did. 



SAMUEL, OR THE GOD DAGON. 203 

The Philistines took two cows and tied them to the cart, 
then laid the ark upon the cart, and watched to see what the 
cows would do. 

Then God made the cows do a wonderful thing. They 
drew the cart, without being driven, along the road which led to 
the place where the Israelites lived. They lowed as they went, 
and never once turned out of the road. 

Some of the Philistines followed the cart. 

At last the cart came to a place where some of the Israelites 
were reaping corn in a field. They looked up, and saw the cart 
coming, and they saw the ark, and then they were glad indeed. 
The cows brought the cart into the field, and then stopped by 
the side of a great stone. 

The Philistines were much surprised at the wonderful thing 
that God had done, and they went back to their own land. 
Don't you think, dear children, they should have left off wor- 
shiping idols, when they saw how great the God of Israel was? 

They should have burned their idols, and only worshiped the 

true God. But they went on worshiping idols, and God was 
angry with them for it. 

The Israelites did a thing that displeased God. They looked 
into the ark. God did not allow any one to do this. The 
book of stone in which the ten commandments were written 
was inside the ark. 

God is angry when people dare to disobey Him; He made 
those Israelites fall ill, and they were afraid of keeping the 
ark in their city; so they sent messages to some other Israelites 
to take it. They did so, and put it in the house of a man who 
lived upon a hill. He and his son took care of it. 



204 



SAMUEL, OR THE GOD DAGON. 



The ark was not sent back to the tabernacle at Shiloh because 
God was angry with the people at Shiloh for all their wick- 
edness. The people in Shiloh had worshiped idols, and so God 
would not let the ark go back to Shiloh. 







ANCIENT TRUMPETS. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

SAUL, OR THE KING. 

When Samuel was grown up he was called a judge ; but he 
was not king. He used to tell the people what God wished 
them to do ; and he used to punish bad people. Moses had 
once been the judge of Israel, and Joshua had once been the 
judge, and Eli had once been the judge. Now, Samuel was the 
judge. He did not sit on a throne or wear a crown, as kings 
do. He always asked God to tell him what the people ought 
to do. The Israelites ought to have been very glad that God 
was their king. No other king was as good and as great as He. 

You will be sorry to hear that at last they grew tired of 
having God for their King. They said, We should like to have 
a king that would go out to battle before us. They wanted to 
have a king that they could see. So they came to Samuel, and 
said, Give us a king. 

Samuel was very sorry to hear this, and he went and prayed 
to the Lord. God was displeased with them for wishing for a 
king; but as they wanted a king He said they should have one. 
So Samuel called the Israelites together, and said, God will 
let you have a king ; but he will not treat you as well as God 
has. He will make your sons to work for him; some will run 
before his chariots; some will make swords for him; some will 
plow his ground, and reap his corn. He will take away many 
of your fields and gardens, and give them to whom he pleases; 
and then you will be sorry that you wished for a king, and you 
will cry to God, and He will not hear you. 

205 



206 SAUL, OR THE KING. 

Still the Israelites wished for a king. They would not mind 
what Samuel said ; but they cried out, We will have a king. 

God was to choose the king. 

There was a young man whose father had some fields, and 
sheep, and cows, and horses. One day three horses were lost; 
so the young man went to look for them among the hills. The 
young man's name was Saul. He took a servant with him, and 
looked for the horses a long while, but he could not find them. 
At last Saul came near the city where Samuel lived. 

The servant said to Saul, I have heard that there is a man in 
that city who is a prophet: all he says comes true. Let us ask 
him where the horses are. Then Saul said to his servant, 
Come, let us go. So they went into the city, and as they went 
along they met Samuel. They had never met Samuel before; 
so they did not know who he was. Samuel was an old man, 
and his hair was long, and he used to wear a cloak. 

Saul spoke to this old man, and said, Can you tell me where 
the prophet's house is ? 

Samuel answered, I am the prophet. 

Samuel knew who Saul was. Though Samuel had never 
seen him before, God had told Samuel that he would meet a 
man just at that time who would be the king of Israel. 

Before Saul had told him what he wanted, Samuel said, The 
horses that you lost three days ago are found. And Samuel 
told Saul that he had a great deal to say to him, and that he 
must come home with him that evening. 

So Saul and the servant went to Samuel's house, and Samuel 
took Saul to the top of his house, and talked to him alone. 

The next morning they all got up very early, and Samuel 



SAUL, OR THE KING. 207 

walked with Saul and the servant through the city. When they 
were come to the outside of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid 
the servant pass on before. So the servant passed on, and 
Samuel and Saul stood still together. 

Then Samuel took a bottle of oil, that he had brought with 
him, and poured it on Saul's head, and said, God has chosen 
thee to be king over Israel. 

Samuel poured the oil upon Saul's head as a sign that he 
was to be the king. Pouring oil upon a person is called anoint- 
ing him. 

After Samuel had anointed Saul they parted. Saul went on 
his way, and returned to his friends: but he did not tell any 
one that he was to be the king of Israel. 

Soon afterward Saul called all the Israelites together, and 
showed the people who was to be their king. When the 
people saw Saul they were very much pleased, for he was taller 
than any of the Israelites; no one else reached higher than his 
shGulder. The Israelites wished to have a king that would look 
very grand when he went out to battle. 

The Israelites shouted when they saw him, and cried out, 
God save the king! 






CHAPTER XLV. 

SAUL, OR THE DISOBEDIENT DEED. 

I have told you how God made Saul the king of Israel. 
Saul sat upon a throne, wore a crown, and went to battle in a 
chariot. He was brave, and could fight well against wicked 
soldiers who tried to hurt the Israelites. 

Samuel used to come and see him, and advise him to serve 
God. Samuel wished Saul to be good, and he often prayed 
for him. 

At last God chose to see whether Saul would do all He 
desired him to do. You remember how God once tried 
Abraham ; and how Abraham did what God desired him, 
because he loved God. 

There were some wicked people who lived near the land of 
Canaan, called the Am-a-lekites. God was displeased with 
them. 

One day Samuel came to f,aul, and said, God commands 
you to go and fight against the Amalekites, and kill them all. 

Saul got a great army of Israelites, and went to the Ama- 
lekites, and conquered them. Then Saul ordered his soldiers 
to kill them with their swords, as God had told him. But he 
thought he should like to take the king of the Amalekites back 
to Canaan with him; so he would not let him be killed. 1 think 
Saul liked to bring the king home with him, because he thought 
it was a grand and fine thing to have a king shut up near him in 

Canaan. Neither did Saul kill the fat and strong oxen and 

208 



SAUL, OR THE DISOBEDIENT DEED. 209 

sheep; he only killed those that were thin and weak. Saul 
wished to be rich, and to have a great many cattle. 

That night God spoke to Samuel, and told him that He was 
much displeased with Saul. 

Samuel was grieved, and prayed all night. 
The next morning Samuel went to Saul, for God had told 
him many things to say. 

Saul did not know that Samuel knew of his wickedness, and 
tried to make him think that he had done as God had told him 

When Saul saw Samuel he pretended to be glad to see him, 
and said, I have done the commandment of the Lord. Then 
Samuel said, What is this bleating of sheep and lowing of oxen 
that I hear? 

Now Saul saw that it would be of no use to say that he had 
not saved the sheep and oxen, so he began to make excuses 
for himself. 

Then Samuel told Saul that God was angry with him, and 
did not intend that he should be king much longer. 

Saul was much frightened when he heard that God would 
punish him, and said, Stay and pray to God with me. But Saul 
was not really sorry ; he was only afraid of being punished. 
Samuel knew this, and would not stay. Then Saul took hold of 
Samuel's cloak, to hinder him from going away, and tore the 
cloak. 

Samuel stopped, and said to Saul, God has torn the land of 
Canaan from you, and He has given it to a man that is better 
than you are. God has done it already, and He will not 
change His mind. 

Saul begged Samuel very much to stay and to pray with 



210 



SAUL, OR THE DISOBEDIENT DEED. 




SAUL TEARING THE ROBE OF SAMUEL. 



him, that the people might not know that God was angry. 
You see that Saul cared more about what people thought than 
about God's being pleased with him. 

Finally Samuel consented to stay a little while, and then left 
him. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

DAVID, OR THE YOUNG SHEPHERD. 

Samuel did not know whom God intended to make king 
instead of Saul. God said to him, Fill a horn with oil, and go 
to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, for I have chosen one of 
his sons as the king. 

Jesse was an old man, and had many sons, who were 
grown men. Samuel found Jesse and his sons in Bethlehem. 

Now the eldest son was a tall, fine-looking man, who 
seemed fit to be a king, and Samuel thought to himself, Surely 
this is the one that God will choose. 

But God told Samuel that He had not chosen him. God 
does not care how a person looks, but he cares for the heart. 
Now the heart of Jesse's oldest son did not please God, and 
this time God was going to choose a king who loved Him in 
his heart. 

Then Samuel looked at Jesse's second son ; but God had 
not chosen him. Then Samuel looked at the third son ; but 
God had not chosen him. Then at the fourth, neither had 
God chosen him; then at the fifth, next at the sixth, and last of 
all, at the seventh; and yet God had not chosen any of them. 

So Samuel said to Jesse, Have you any more children ? 

Jesse answered, 1 have one more child, the youngest, who 
is keeping the sheep. Then Samuel said, Send for him. 

So Jesse sent for this youngest son. 

The name of this son was David. He was only a boy. He 

211 



212 



DAVID, OR THE YOUNG SHEPHERD, 



had a beautiful color on his cheeks, and his eyes had a pleasant 
look. 

When he came in, God said to Samuel, Arise and anoint 
him, for this is he. So Samuel took the horn of oil and 
anointed him. 

Then Samuel went to his own house. 

You will hear a great deal about David. God did not mean 
that he should become king for a long while ; but David knew 
that he certainly should be king some day. He went on keep- 
ing his father's sheep. As he watched them he played on his 
harp, and sung sweet songs of praise to God. His songs are 
called psalms. 




'£ 













DAVID LENDING HIS SHEEP. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

DAVID, OR THE HARP. 

Samuel did not tell Saul who was to be king. 

Yet Saul was unhappy. He felt uneasy, and could not rest. 
He lived in a fine house called a palace, but this did not make 
him happy; he had many servants, but they could do him no 
good. 

Saul's servants saw that he had a wicked spirit, and they 
said, Shall we look for a man who can play very sweetly on the 
harp? Perhaps if you were to listen to sweet music, you 
might get well. 

Then Saul told them to look for such a man. 

One of the servants had heard of David, and he said, 1 have 
seen one of the sons of Jesse, who lives at Bethlehem ; he can 
play beautifully on the harp ; is a very brave young man, can 
speak wisely, and is handsome. God too, loves him: shall I 
send for him? 

Saul said that he would like this young man. Some of 
Saul's servants went to Jesse and said, King Saul wishes to see 
your son David, who takes care of the sheep. 

Jesse said that David might go; and he told David to take a 
present to King Saul. When Saul saw David he loved him very 
much. Perhaps Saul loved him because he had a sweet look, 
and could play well on the harp; but God loved him because 
he wished to please Him. 

Saul liked David so much that he wished him to stay a long 
while, and to be near him. 

213 






214 DAVID, OK THE HARP. 

David very often played to Saul upon the harp, and when 
David played he grew better, until at last he was quite well 

After a while David went away from Saul, and fed his 
father's sheep as he used to do. 

1 think David liked taking care of sheep better than living 
with Saul ; for Saul was wicked, and many of his servants were 
wicked also. 

David was happy when alone, thinking about God. Did you 
ever hear any of David's psalms? In one of his psalms he calls 
God his Shepherd. David took great care of his sheep, and 
led them to places where green fresh grass grew, and to 
smooth and clear water; and he made them lie down on 
the softest grass in cool places by the river's side. While 
David was taking so much care of his sheep he thought that 
God took still more care of him; and he said, The Lord 
is my Shepherd, I shall not want; He maketh me to lie down 
in green pastures, and beside still waters. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

DAVID, OR THE GIANT GOLIATH. 

You remember who the Philistines were. They were 
wicked people, who lived in some of the cities of Canaan. 

One day a great number of Philistines came, and placed 
their tents on the top of a hill in Canaan. When Saul heard it, 
he came with a great number of Israelites, and placed their 
tents on another hill. The Philistines and the Israelites could 
see each other, and they intended to fight, but they did not 
choose to fight at once. 

There was one man among the Philistines whose name was 
Goliath. He was called a giant because he was ten feet high. 
He was very tall indeed. 

He was very strong and big, and could fight well. He wore 
clothes made of iron and brass; people used to wear armor, 
that arrows and swords and spears might not hurt them easily. 

He wore a cap of brass upon his head, and he wore a coat 
of iron: his legs were covered with brass. He held a great 
spear in his hand, and had a great sword by his side; and a 
man went before him with a shield. A shield is a great piece 
of iron or brass, like a large tray, which men used to hold 
before their faces in battle to prevent the arrows hurting 
them. 

The giant thought that no one could kill him. Every day 
he used to call out with a loud voice, Will one of the Israelites 
come out and fight with me? If he is able to kill me, then aH 
the Philistines will obey the king of Israel; but if I kill him, 

215 



216 DAVID, OR THE GIANT GOLIATH. 

then the Israelites must obey the Philistines. Is there any 
man that will fight with me? 

Would any of the Israelites fight with the giant? 

No, not one. When Saul heard the Philistine giant, he was 
frightened, and all the Israelites were frightened. They all 
thought they should be killed, if they fought with him. 

One day Jesse said to his son David, Go to the tents of 
Israel, and see how your brethren are. 

So David rose up very early, and left his sheep with another 
shepherd, and went a long way, till he came to the hill where 
the tents of the Israelites were. Then he ran to look for his 
brothers. As he was talking, he heard a man speaking in a 
very loud ^oice, saying, Who is able to fight with me? It was 
the giant Goliath. David had never heard the giant speak 
before, but the people who were near David told him about 
the giant, and they said, King Saul has promised to give any 
man who kills the giant a great many things as a reward. 

David was surprised that people should be afraid of fighting 
with the giant, because he knew that God could help an 
Israelite to conquer him, and he knew that the gods of the 
Philistines could not help them because they were idols ; so 
David said, Who is this Philistine, that he should speak in this 
manner to the people of God? And David felt in his heart that 
he should not be afraid to fight with him. 

Soon some one went and told Saul that there was a young 
man come who said he would fight with the giant. So Saul 
desired the young man to come before him. Saul had seen 
David before, but had forgotten him. Saul was surprised that 
David, who was so young, should wish to fight with the giant; 




.y^^^NKoW^ 



DAVID THROWING THE STONE. 



217 



218 DAVID, OR THE GIANT GOLIATH. 

and said, You are not able to fight with that Philistine; you 
are very young, and he has been used to fighting. Then 
David answered, Once when I was keeping my father's sheep, 
a lion came and took a lamb out of the flock, and 1 went after 
the lion and met him, and took the lamb out of his mouth; 
and when the lion tried io kill me, I caught him by his hair and 
killed him. And once a bear came, and 1 killed him too. I 
shall kill this Philistine, as 1 killed the lion and the bear. It was 
God who delivered me from the lion and the bear, and He will 
deliver me from this Philistine. 

You see, David was not proud of his strength, but he knew 
that God could help him. 

When Saul heard these words, he told him to go and fight 
the giant. But David had no sword, or coat of iron, so Saul 
lent him his own armor, and his own sword; he put a cap of 
brass on Davids head, and dressed him in a coat of iron. But 
David had not been used to wear armor; so he said to 
Saul, I cannot wear this armor, and took it off again; 
neither would he take a sword, or a spear. He went to the 
brook and chose five smooth stones, and put them in a bag 
which he had, and took the bag with him. In the other hand 
he held a staff. Then David went to meet the giant. 

The giant heard that one of the Israelites was ready to fight 

When the giant saw David he was surprised; he had ex- 
pected to see a great man like himself, dressed in armor, and 
holding a spear in his hand. 

But David was very young, and his face was rosy like a 
child's, and he only wore a shepherd's dress, and held a staff 
in his hand. 



DAVID, OR THE GIANT GOLIATH. 



219 



The giant was angry when he saw him; then he began to 
laugh, and said, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the 
birds. 

But David was not afraid. He said, You have a sword, a 
npear, and a shield, but God will fight for me. He will help 




DAVID AND GOLIATH. 



me, and everybody will see that the God of Israel is the true 
God, and that He can save whom He pleases. 

Then the giant came still nearer to David, and David ran 
toward him quickly, put his hand in his bag, drew out a stone, 
and put it in the sling that he had; then holding one end of the 






220 



DAVID, OR THE GIANT GOLIATH. 



sling, he threw the stone with all his strength. It hit the giant 
in the forehead, and he fell upon the ground. 

Then David ran to him, and taking the giant's sword, cut 
off his head. When the Philistines saw what a great wonder 
God had done, they were frightened; and the Israelites 
shouted, for they saw that their God fought for them. 

David thanked God for helping him to conquer the giant. 
rie sung God's praises, and played upon his harp. David did 
not wish people to praise him; he wished everybody to praise 
God. He wished all people to say, How great God is! He 
helped the poor young shepherd to conquer the great giant. 




^yiiiLM. -,'t'mj 



f ■.- 







JONATHAN AND DAVID. 



221 



., • ' p» *» 



■/}, t 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

DAVID, OR THE JAVELIN. 

Saul was glad that David had killed the giant. Saul said to 
David, Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, 
1 am the son of Jesse, who lives at Bethlehem. 

While Saul was talking to David there was a person standing 
near, of whom you have not heard; it was the son of Saul. He 
was very brave, and very good; his name was Jonathan; he was 
a prince, because he was the king's son, and the king's son is 
called a prince. 

Jonathan began to love David very much indeed. He loved 
David because he was brave and good. David had also a very 
sweet look. Jonathan told David that he loved him, and they 
both promised to be kind to each other. Jonathan gave his 
own clothes to David, and wore other clothes; he also gave 
him his sword. 

Saul told David that he must not go back to live with his 
father again, but must stay with him. So David and Jonathan 
saw each other often. 

After the Philistines had been killed in battle, the Israelites 
went to their homes. Jonathan and David went with the king. 
As they were going along, they saw a great many women with 
harps, and they sung and danced. These are the words they 
sung: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 

David did not wish to be praised; he wished God to be 
praised. He would have liked to hear the women say that God 
had helped a poor shepherd to kill the giant. 

222 



DAVID, OR THE JAVELIN. 



223 



But when Saul heard these songs he was angry; he wished 
to be praised, and could not bear to hear David praised more 
than himself. Do they say that David is braver than I am? 
How wicked Saul was. He was envious. 

Saul thought, perhaps David is the man who is to be king 




SAUL'S ATTEMPT TO KILL DAVID. 

instead of me. He remembered that Samuel told him God 
had chosen a better man to be king. 

Then Saul hated David, and wished to kill him. Saul had 
these wicked thoughts in his mind when he reached his own 
house. Instead of thanking God for his kindness in having 



224 DAVID, OR THE JAVELIN. 

helped the Israelites to conquer the Philistines, he was thinking 
how he £Ould kill David. 

David saw that Saul was ill, and unhappy. 

He took his harp as he used to do, and began to play sweet 

music. Saul had a sharp thing in his hand called a javelin; and 

Saul thought, 1 will throw this at David, and it shall go through 

his body. But David saw the javelin coming, and slipped out 

of the way, so that Saul did not hurt him. Then Saul threw it 

again, but he could not hurt David. God took care of him. 

Every one loved David, and this made Saul still more 
envious. 

David behaved so well, that Saul could not find any fault 
for which to punish him. Then Saul told David to take some 
men, and to go and fight against the Philistines. Saul hoped 
that the Philistines would kill David in battle. David went, but 
no one hurt him. Everybody praised him more, and called 
him brave. Saul grew more angry. At last Saul told his 
servants to kill him, but they loved David, and would not. 
Jonathan was afraid lest some wicked person should mind 
Saul, and kill David; so Jonathan told David to hide, and said to 
his father, Why do you wish to kill David? What has he done? 
Did he not once kill the giant? Then you were glad: why are 
you angry with him now? 

Saul promised that he would not have David killed. Then 
Jonathan called David and brought him to Saul, and David was 
with him as he used to be. 

But soon Saul began to hate him again. Saul had a javelin 
in his hand, and threw it at David; but David slipped out of the 
way, and the javelin stuck in the wall. 



DAVID, OR THE JAVELIN. 



225 



Now David was afraid of staying any more with Saul; and 
he fled away that night. 

He did not go back to his father; for Saul would have found 
him; but he hid in a great many places, and God took care of 
him. 




DAVID SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL. 



CHAPTER L 

DAVID, OR THE CAVE. 

When David fled from Saul he was obliged to leave his dear 
friend Jonathan. They kissed each other and shed many tears 
when they parted; but Jonathan chose to stay with his father, 
king Saul. There were very high hills in Canaan, and there 
were large holes in these hills, called caves, and in one of these 
David hid himself. 

Very few people lived among these hills; but sheep fed on 
the fresh grass that grew on them, and goats leaped and 
sported on the tops of the hills. 

David was not alone. His brothers came to him, besides a 
great many poor people. These people liked to be with David. 

David and his friends lived together in a large cave, for 
some caves are very large, and will hold as many people as you 
see at church on Sunday. 

Kind people gave them food. Saul was angry when he heard 
that all were kind to David. Saul used to tell people that David 
was wicked, and that David wished to kill him. Some people 
believed what Saul said, and thought David was really wicked. 

Poor David! It made him sorry to think that people 
believed that he wanted to kill Saul. But it was a comfort to 
him that God knew he did not want to kill Saul. He some- 
times asked God to look into his heart, to see whether he 
wished to kill Saul. David had his harp with him in the cave; 
he often sung psalms, and praised God for keeping him from 
being hurt. 

226 



DAVID, OR THE CAVE. 



227 



David did not always live in the same cave, lest wicked 
people should tell Saul where he was hid. Sometimes he hid 
among the thick trees in the wood, and sometimes in one cave, 
and sometimes in another. 

Saul took a great many soldiers, and came to look for David 
among the hills, but God did not let Saul find him. Saul said 
to the people he met, Have you seen David and his men? It 
you love me, you will tell me where he is, for David wants t6 
kill me. Then some people would tell Saul, He is in the cave 
in that hill. But when Saul got to the place he could not find 
David; for David had heard that Saul was looking for him, and 
had gone to another cave. 

Saul was almost tired of looking for David, when something 
happened which you will like to hear. 

Caves are dark inside, very dark; because, though there is 
a hole to go in at, there are no windows to let in the light. 

One day David was in a very large 
cave with his men, when Saul and 
his men passed that way. Saul did 
not know David was in the cave. 
But Saul saw the cave, and he wished 
to go in to sleep for a little while; 
so he left his men outside, and came 
in alone. David and his men saw 
him come in, but Saul did not see 
them, because they were in the dark 
parts of the cave. David and his 
entrance to cave. men remained very quiet, and Saul 
lay down to rest. Then David's men said to him in a low 




22b 



DAVID, OR THE CAVE- 



voice, Now you can kill Saul if you wish it No, said David, ! 
will not hurt the man whom God made king. And David 
would not let his men hurt Saul; but he went gently up to Saul 
as he lay asleep, and cut off a piece of his clothes. 

After a little while Saul rose up, and went out of the cave; 
and he and his men went on looking for David among the hills, 




SEE THE SHIRT,' ETC. 



Then David came out of the cave, and called in a ioud voice 
after Saul, My lord the king! Then Saul looked behind him } 
and David bowed himself down to the ground. Then David 
spoke very meekly to Saul, and said, Why do you think that ! 



DAVID, OR THE CAVE. 229 

wish to kill you? You came into the cave where 1 was, and 
some people advised me to kill you; but I would not do it. 
Then David held up the piece of Saul's clothes that he had cut 
off. Look, my father, said David, at this; I cut it off. I could 
have killed you; but 1 would not. Why then do you hunt after 
me? The Lord will keep me safe, and will not let you hurt me. 

When David had done speaking, Saul said, Is that your 
voice, my son David? And Saul began to weep. He had once 
loved David, and when he saw how good David was, he felt 
that he had been wicked; but he did not feel sorry that he had 
offended God. 

Yes, said Saul, I see that you are much better than I am, 
and that you do not wish to kill me; and I know that you will 
be king one day. 

So Saul did not try to kill David that day, and he left off 
looking for David, and went home with his men to his own 
house. 

But David did not go and live with Saul, for he could not 
trust him. Once before, Saul had promised Jonathan that he 
would not try to kill David again, and yet he had broken his 
promise, and David knew that perhaps he would soon try to 
kill him again. So David went back to his cave. 



CHAPTER LI. 

DAVID, OR THE SPEAR. 

Saul left off looking for David, but he soon began to hate him 
again. One day some wicked men came to him, and said, We 
can tell you where David has hid himself. 

Saul was glad to hear where David was, and he took a great 
many soldiers with him and went to the place where he heard 
David was. 

Saul directed his men to set up their tents on a hill, and to 
dig a deep ditch all round the tents, that nobody might come 
to the tents to hurt them. In the night Saul and his men 
would sleep in their tents, and in the daytime they would look 
c'or David. 

Then David went with some of his friends near the place 
where the tents were, and he said to his friends, Who will go 
with me among the tents? And one of David's friends said, 
I will. Then David and his friend went in the night, and 
walked among the tents; but no one saw them or heard them; 
for God had made them sleep: even the people whom Saul 
had desired to watch, to prevent anybody coming, had fallen 
fast asleep. God did not choose that David should be hurt; 
therefore he made the people sleep. 

David got over the great ditch that had been dug; for there 
was nobody watching near to hinder him. 

David went into the tent of Saul. He found him sleeping; 
and by his pillow he saw his spear stuck into the ground, and a 

230 



DAVID, OR THE SPEAR. 231 

jug of water; and he saw other people who ought to have 
watched over him, asleep round about him. 

Saul little knew that David was so near him, looking at him 
as he slept. 

Then Davids friend said to him, Let me take this spear 
and kill Saul; I will pierce his body through in a moment 

No, said David, do not kill him: it would be very wicked to 
kill the man whom God has made king. Only take the jug of 
water, and the spear, and let us go. 

So they took the jug of water and the spear, and they went 
away from the tents; and nobody woke while they were 
passing. 

You remember why David had once cut off some of Saul's 
clothes. It was for the same reason he now took the jug and 
spear. He wished to show Saul that he had been near his bed 
while he was asleep, and that he might have killed him, if he 
had chosen it. 

Then David went down the hill where Saul's tents were, 
and went up another hill; so there was a great way between 
Saul and him. Then David cried out with a very loud voice to 
men that were sleeping round king Saul, and said, Why do you 
let people come near the king when he is asleep? 

Then David showed the people the king's spear and the jug 
of water. 

When Saul heard David's voice he rememoered it, and wept. 

He said, Is this thy voice, my son David? 

And David said, It is my voice, O king. Why do you look 
for me? What have I done? Have any wicked men told you 
that I wish to hurt you? 



232 



DAVID, OR THE SPEAR. 



Then Saul said, I have sinned. Go to your home again. I 
will never hurt you again, because you did not kill me to-day, 
when you might have done it. 1 have done very wickedly. 

Then David said, Here is the king's spear. Send one of 
your servants to get it. 

David would not bring the spear to Saul himself. He could 
not trust Saul; he was not sure that Saul would not kill him. 

And then Saul went home, but David went into the part of 
Canaan where the Philistines lived, that Saul might not be able 

to hurt him. 

David ought not to have gone to live with the Philistines, 

because they worshiped idols. 




CHAPTER LII. 

DAVID, OR THE PROMISE FULFILLED. 

When Saul heard that David was gone to the Philistines, he 
went to look for him no more; because if Saul had gone to 
them, they would have tried to kill him. 

The time had now almost come when Saul must die. 

You know that the Philistines hated the people of Israel 
and used to fight against them. One day the king of the 
Philistines called a great many of his soldiers together, and took 
them to a place in the land of Canaan where, they might fight 
with the Israelites. When Saul heard they had come, he took 
his soldiers and went to fight against them. Saul's good son 
Jonathan went with his father to the battle. 

The Philistines and the Israelites fought together upon some 
hills, and the Philistines conquered. God was angry with the 
Israelites, and he did not help them to conquer. The Israelites 
ran away from the Philistines; even Saul and Jonathan, though 
they were very brave, ran away; and the Philistines ran after 
them, and they killed Jonathan. Some men with bows and 
arrows shot at Saul, and some of the arrows went into his 
body, so that he could not run away any more; yet Saul was 
not killed by the arrows; he was only hurt. 

When Saul found that he could not run away, he was afraid 
that the Philistines would get hold of him, and treat him very 
cruelly; so he wished very much to die before they overtook 
him. Then Saul said to one of his soldiers, Take your sword, 
and run it through my body. 

233 



234 



DAVID, Ok THE PROMISE FULFILLED. 



The soldier would not kill Saul. Then Saul took his own 
sword, and fell upon the point of it; so it ran through his body, 
and he died. 

The Philistines praised their idols, and said that their idols 
were greater than the God of Israel, because they said their 




DEATH OF SAUL. 



idols had helped them to conquer the Israelites. Then they 
took Saul's armor, and put it in one of the houses where they 
worshiped idols. 

David all this time was in the land of the Philistines. He 
knew that Saul and Jonathan had been fighting a battle, an^t he 






DAVID, OR THE PROMISE FULFILLED. 

longed to know who had conquered. At last a man who h 
been at the battle came to David, to tell him about it. The 
man bowed down to David, and said, I come from the tents of 
Israel. 

Then David said, Pray tell me what has happened. 

And the man said, The Israelites have run away, and many 
are dead, and Saul and Jonathan are dead. 

The man thought that David would have been very glad to 
hear that Saul was dead. But David was not, for he still loved 
Saul and was sorry too that the Philistines had conquered him, 
because he knew that the Philistines would praise their idols, 
and speak against the God of Israel, and David loved God so 
much, that he wished everybody to praise him. And David 
was very sorry for Jonathan his friend. He would never see 
his face again in this world. 

David sung a sweet song about Saul and Jonathan. He said 
that Saul and Jonathan had been like eagles and lions, they had 
been so brave: he said they had lived together, and had died 
together. And then he said in his song, I am distressed for 
thee, my brother Jonathan; thy love to me was wonderful. 
He called Jonathan his brother because he had been so very 
kind to him. 

David did not speak of Saul's wickedness, he only spoke 
of his bravery; for he did not like to speak against the king. 

Now the time had come when David was to be king. God 
put it into the hearts of the Israelites to ask him to be their 
king. 

David praised God on his harp for keeping his promise, for 
taking him from keeping sheep, and making him king over all 






236 



DAVID, OR THE PROMISE FULFILLED. 



the land David wished to be a good king, and to do all that 
God told him, and to teach all his people to love God. He 
knew that God would bless him, and keep him from all harm. 




SAMUEL ANOINTING DAVID 



CHAPTER LIII. 

DAVID, OR THE ARK ON ZION. 

At last David was made king, as God had promised. David 
was born at Bethlehem, and there he kept sheep, but when he 
was king he lived at Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem was a beautiful city. There were a great many 
hills in it. One of the hills was called Mount Zion. 

David directed some men to build him a house upon Mount 
Zion. A king's house is called a palace. 

David loved God very much, and so he thought he should 
like to have God's ark very near his palace. 

You remember that the ark was once at Shiloh, and that the 
Philistines took it in battle, and that they sent it back to the 
Israelites: but the ark was never taken back to Shiloh. The 
ark had been kept in a man's house; David knew where it was, 
and he went himself to bring it. So they brought the ark from 
the man's house to Mount Zion in Jerusalem. David was 
dresse^ ; n a white ephod, and all the singers and players of 
music were dressed in white, and the priests were dressed in 
white. 

David played upon his harp, and he went with the players 
and singers; and the ark came afterward with the priests. 

A great many of the Israelites came to see this beautiful 
sight. They saw their king praising God upon his harp. 

The ark was taken up ttte hill called Mount Zion. There 
were walls round the top of Mount Zion, and large gates; the 
gates were opened wide to let the king come in, and the ark, 

237 



238 DAVID, OR THE ARK ON ZION. 

which was the throne of the Lord. David had made a new 
tabernacle, close to his own palace. 

David also offered some sacrifices upon Mount Zion, and 
David blessed all the people that stood round. 

Some used to sing in the day, and some used to sing in the 
night. The angels in heaven can sing night and day without 
resting, but these singers could not do so. When David v/as 
in his palace, he could hear them singing God's praise. 

David wrote the psalms himself. He sung the psalms to 
his own harp, and he wrote them down, and sent them to the 
singers, that they might sing them near the ark. 

David did not always stay in his palace on Mount Zion. He 
was often obliged to go out to fight against the Philistines, and 
God helped David and his men conquer them. Then David 
used to return to Mount Zion, and sing psalms to God for 
having helped him to conquer. 

One day David was sitting in his beautiful palace, and he 
said to his friend Nathan, I live in a fine house, but God's ark 
is placed under curtains. And David wished to build a beautiful 
house for it. 

Nathan, David's friend, was a very wise and a very good 
man, and he advised David to build a house for the Lord. 

In the night God spoke to Nathan and said, Go tell David 
not to build me a house; I am pleased with David for wishing 
to build it, but I do not choose to have him build me one, 
because he has fought so many battles, and killed so many 
people; I will give David a son who shall build me a house. 

Then Nathan came to David in the morning, and told him 
what God had said. 



DAVID, OR Thd ARK ON 210N> 

David was much pleased to hear that God would bless him, 
and that he would give him a son who should build a house for 
God. So David went to thank God for his kind promises. 

God liked David's prayer. David was not proud. He 
wondered that God should be kind to him, and that He should 
have taken him from being a shepherd to be a king. 

Although David might not build a house for the Lord, it 
was his chief delight to make preparations so as to enable his 
sons to carry out his plans. He collected gold and silver in 
great quantities, and arranged with the king of Tyre to send 
him cedar from the mountains of Lebanon. The men of Tyre 
were famous sailors; they were the first to send ships around 
the Mediterranean Sea, and even beyond into the wide, 
unknown ocean. 





SCENE AT TYRE. 



CHAPTER LIV. 
david, or Uriah's wife. 

David was a good man; he loved God, and tried to please 
Him. Yet there was still wickedness in David's heart, as well 
as goodness. I am going to tell you how David once displeased 
the Lord. 

Once David's men went out to fight against some wicked 
people who lived near Canaan. David did not go himself to 
fight this time, but he told a man called Joab to take his 
soldiers to fight. 

So David staid at Jerusalem. 1 do not know why he did 
not go out to fight himself. 

One day when it was hot David lay upon his bed, and when 
it grew cool he got up and walked on the top of his house, 
which was flat and level like a floor. As he was walking there, 
he looked down and saw a woman whom he liked very much 
as soon as he saw her. David wished to have her for his wife; 
so he sent his servants to ask what her name was; and they 
came back and told him that her name was Bath-she-ba, and 
that she was married to a man called Uriah. 

David ought to have prayed to God to keep him from 
thinking about Bathsheba any more; but he kept on thinking, 
and wishing that she could be his wife; and he thought, If 
Uriah was dead, then Bathsheba could be his wife. Now 
Uriah was a very brave and good man, and he had gone with 
Captain Joab a great way off to fight against some wicked 
people. 

241 



2* 



DAVID, OR URIAH'S WIFE. 



David wished that Uriah might get killed in the battle. At 
last a very wicked plan came into his heart. David wrote a 
letter to Joab the captain, and said, When you take the people 
out to fight, let Uriah stand in a place where the wicked people 
will shoot him. 

David sent the letter to Joab. Joab ought not to have done 




DAVID AND BATHSHEBA. 



this wicked thing. But he was a very wicked man, so he 
determined to do as the king told him. 

Soon afterward Joab took his soldiers to fight against a 
g eat city with walls all round it, and he told Uriah to go with 






DAVID, OR URIAH'S WIPE. 243 

some of the soldiers very near the walls of the city, and some 
of the men in the city shot arrows from the walls, and killed 
Uriah. 

Then Joab sent a man to tell King David that Uriah was 
dead. 

David was not sorry when he heard that Uriah was killed. 
He pretended to be sorry, but he felt glad in his heart, Now 
Bathsheba could be his wife; so he sent for Bathsheba, and 
married her, and she came and lived with him in his palace. 

But God was displeased with what David had done. 

One day Nathan, who was a prophet, came to David. 

God had told Nathan what David had done. 

Nathan began by telling David a little history. He said, 
There were two men in one city; the one was rich and the 
other poor; the rich man had a great many sheep; the poor 
man had only one little lamb, which he had taken care of since 
it was first born: he fed it and gave it drink out of his own 
cup, and he nursed it in his bosom, and loved it as one of his 
children. One day a visitor came to the rich man's house, and 
the rich man sent and took the poor man's lamb, and killed it, 
and prepared it for dinner for his visitor. Then said Nathan, 
What shall be done to the rich man? 

And David felt very angry with the rich man, and he said 
to Nathan, He shall die; and he shall give the poor man four 
lambs instead of the one which he took. 

Then Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. 

Nathan did not mean that David was the man who had 
taken the poor man's lamb. David had not taken a lamb, but 
he had taken Uriah's wife, and that was much more wicked. 



244 



DAVID, OR URIAH'S WIFE. 



Nathan told him this history to show him what a wicked thing 
he had done. 

Nathan said to David, God has been very kind to you, and 
made you king. Why have you disobeyed his commandments? 
God will punish you for your wickedness. 







NATHAN REBUKING DAVID. 



David was very sorry when he heard that God was angry 
with what he had done, and he said, 1 have sinned against the 
Lord. 

David was really sorry for what he had done. He was not 



DAVID, OR URIAH'S WIFE. 

like Saul, who only cared for the punishment; he was most 
sorry because he had displeased God. 

He asked God in his psalm to wash out his sins. These 
were some of David's words: Wash me., and 1 shall be whiter 
than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God! and renew a 
right spirit within me. 

You see that David prayed to God to forgive him, and God 
did forgive him; yet still, God % would punish David, that all 
people might know that God hated wickedness. 




PLANTING KICE IN THE EAST. 



CHAPTER LV. 

DAVID, OR THE PUNISHMENT. 

God said he would punish David, though he had forgiven 
riim. 

David had a great many children. I cannot tell you about all 
his children, but I will tell you of one called Absalom. He was 
a very proud young man, handsome, had beautiful hair and 
was very vain of his beauty; he also told lies, and even killed 
one of his brothers who had offended him. When C avid 
heard how Absalom had killed his brother, he was angry wrL 
him for a long time, and would not see him; but at last he let 
him come to his palace, and kissed him, and forgave him. 
David ought never to have allowed Absalom to con,e to 
Jerusalem again after he had killed his brother; but Davil was 
too fond of Absalom. 

Yet Absalom did not love his father David. He wished to 
be king instead of David, and so he behaved very kindly to all 
the people in Jerusalem, that they might love him bette r than 
they loved his father, and make him king. He used som times 
to kiss the poor people that he saw, and tell them tha^ if he 
were king he would be very kind to them. 

This kind way of behaving made the people love Absalom; 
for they thought that he really cared for them. 

When Absalom saw that many of the people loved i ,irn, he 
xsked David's leave to go from Jerusalem into the c >untry. 
David did not know what a wicked plan Absalom had m ide. 

Absalom had directed a great many men to wait till they 

246 




KING DAVID FORGIVING ABSALOM. 



247 



-.-. 



248 DAVID, OR THE PUNISHMENT. 

heard the sound of a trumpet, and when they heard it, to cry 
)ut, Absalom is king, So, when Absalom had left Jerusalem, 
and come into the country, he desired the trumpet to be 
blown, and a great many of the people called out, Absalom is 
king! 

David was in Jerusalem, and a messenger came and told 
him that Absalom had made himself king. 

He could not bear to think that his son was so wicked as to 
make himself king. Then David thought of .his own sin, and 
felt that he deserved to be punished. He knew that it was God 
that let all these things happen to him. 

David would not stay in Jerusalem, for he thought that 
Absalom would soon come there, and would perhaps kill him 
and his servants. So the king left his palace on Mount Zion, to 
go a great way off. There were many people in Jerusalem 
who loved David, and went with him. 

They crossed a little river that was outside Jerusalem, and 
as they went all the people wept. 

Then David and his servants went up a high hill, and David 
wept as he went up, and covered his head. He wore no shoes 
on his feet: he did these things to show he was unhappy, and 
all the people with him did the same. You see how much the 
people loved David. 

And when David came to the top of a hill he prayed to 
3od. 

Then he went on his journey. Soon he met a very wicked 
man who hated him, and who called David very bad names, 
and even threw stones at David and his soldiers. This wicked 
man called David a child of the devil, and said, You killed Saul, 



DAVID, OR THE PUNISHMENT. 249 

and his children, and now God is punishing you for your 
wickedness. ^~~- 

At last David and his men came to a place where they 
rested, for they were very tired. David and his soldiers 
traveled a long way. At last they crossed over the river Jordan. 
On the other side there was a place called a wilderness. 

There were three very rich men who lived near the wilder- 
ness, and who heard of David and his men coming; and these 
rich men said, They must be very hungry and thirsty, and 
weary in the wilderness; so they brought David and his men a 
great many things: beds to rest their weary limbs, cups to 
drink out of, corn, vegetables, honey, and sheep to eat. These 
rich men were very kind. 

David asked God to comfort him. He felt that he deserved 
to be punished. 







CHAPTER LVI. 



DAVID, OR THE OAK TREE. 



David lived in a city that had walls and gates. 

Absalom soon heard where David was, and came after him 
with a great army. Absalom crossed over the river Jordan, 
while his men set up their tents near the city where David was. 

Then David saw that his wicked son meant to fight. So 
David one morning directed his soldiers to go out of the city. 
David was going with them; but they begged him not to come, 
lest he should be killed in battle. These people loved him very 
much. Then the king said, I will do as you think best. David 
did not wish to go to this battle, for he did not like to fight 
against Absalom. 

David told the soldiers, before they went, not to hurt 
Absalom; for David still loved his wicked son. 

Absalom and his soldiers came out to fight against David's 
men. They fought in a wood. This was not a good place for 
fighting, for a great many people were knocked against the 
trees, and bruised, and killed. 

David's men conquered, because God helped them, and 
Absalom's men tried to run away. 

Absalom rode upon a mule — which is a beast very much 
like a horse. As he was riding, he passed under a great oak 
tree, and his beautiful long hair was caught in the boughs; and 
the mule ran away, and left him hanging by the hair in the 
tree, with his feet lifted up from the earth. One of Davids 
soldiers saw him, and went to the captain, and. said, I saw 



250 




DAVID GOING TO HIS CHAMBER. 
251 



252 



DAVID, OR THE OAK TREE. 



Absalom hanging to an oak. Then Joab said, Why did you not 
kill him? If you had, 1 would have given you a great deal of 
silver, and some clothes. But the man answered, If you would 
have given me a thousand pieces of silver, 1 would not have 




DEATH OF ABSALOM. 



hurt Absalom, for f heard the king desire that no one should 

hurt him. 

When Absalom was dead, Joab blew a trumpet to call back 
his soldiers; for, now Absalom was dead, the Israelites might 
leave off fighting. Absalom's soldiers went back to their tents, 
and Joab took his soldiers back to the city where David was. 



DAVID. OR THE OAK TREE. 253 

But before they went two men ran to tell David what had 
happened. 

David sat near the gates inside the city. A man stood upon 
the wall near the gate, to watch whether any person was 
coming. Soon the watchman saw a man running. Then said 
David, No doubt he brings some message. Soon afterward the 
watchman saw another man running. Thei. David said, He 
also brings a message. 

Soon the first man came up, and cried out, All is well. 

He said all was well, because David's men had won the 
battle. Then the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? 
The messenger knew that Absalom was dead, but he did not 
like to grieve David by telling him this sad news; so he said, 
There was a good deal of noise and confusion when Joab sent 
me here. 

Soon the other man came running up to David, and said, 
God has punished the wicked people who fought against the 
king. Then the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? 

And the messenger answered, May all people who fight 
against the king be as Absalom now is. The king knew then 
that Absalom was dead. How very unhappy he was when he 
heard this. He went into a room that was near the gate, and 
wept, and said, "O my son Absalom! my son, my son 
Absalom! Would God I had died for thee! " 

When David's soldiers came back, they heard how the king 
grieved for Absalom, and they felt unhappy, because they loved 
the king. The king did not come out to meet them, and to 
thank them for having gained the battle. 



CHAPTER LVII. 



DAVID, OR THE FAREWELL. 



Absalom was dead, David could now return to Jerusalem. 
The people who had said that Absalom was king now wished 
David to be king again. 




SOLOMON ANOINTED KING. 



David was very glad to come back to Jerusalem, because he 
wished to worship God near his ark, and to hear all the people 
praising God. 



254 



DAVID, OR THE FAREWELL. 255 

One of David's sons was good. God loved him, and made 
him good. His name was Solomon. God told David that he 
was to be king after him. At last David grew very old and 
weak, and he knew that he should die. So he wished to make 
Solomon king before he died. He told the high priest to pour 
oil upon his head; and so the high priest anointed Solomon to 
be king. 

Then David called his people together to a place in 
Jerusalem, and spoke to all before he died. The king stood up, 
and said, I once wished to build a house for the ark of God; 
but God would not let me build a house, because I had fought 
so many battles, but said that my son should build it. 

Then David spoke to Solomon and said, My son, serve 
God, and He will bless you. Then David showed Solomon the 
things for building the house: gold, silver, iron, stones, and 
wood. 

Then David prayed to God, and thanked Him for letting 
Solomon build Him a house, and for letting the people give 
their things to God. And David asked God to make Solomon 
love Him, and obey Him. David offered a great many sacrifices 
to God. Soon after David died. 









CHAPTER LVIII. 



SOLOMON, OR THE WISE CHOICE. 



Almost the first thing Solomon did when he became king, 
was to offer sacrifices to God. 

The night after Solomon had offered the sacrifices, God 
spoke to him while he was asleep, and said, Ask what 1 
shall give thee. 

Now Solomon had just been made king, and he saw what a 
hard thing it was to be a good king; for Solomon would judge 
the people: people who quarreled with each other would come 
to Solomon ; and it is very hard, when people quarrel, to find 
out who is in fault, and who ought to be punished. 

Solomon wished very much to judge the people well; and 
so he asked God to make him very wise. 

Solomon said to God, Thou hast made me a king over a 
great many people, and 1 am very young; and I do not know 
what 1 ought to do. Make me very wise, that 1 may judge the 
people well. 

God was very much pleased with Solomon, and said, You 
did not ask me to make you rich, or make you live a long while, 
or make you conquer your enemies, but you asked for wisdom; 
therefore 1 will make you wiser than any man that ever lived; 
and I will make you very rich too; so that no other king shall be 
as rich, or as great as you; and if you love me, and serve me 
as David did, I will make you live a long while. 

256 



SOLOMON, OR THE WISE CHOICE. 257 

Then Solomon woke. How pleased he must have been to 
think of the promises that God had made him. He went back 
to Jerusalem, and offered up more sacrifices near the ark. 

Now 1 will tell you of something that happened, which 
showed that God had made Solomon as wise as He said He 
would. 

One day there came two women to Solomon. They had 
quarreled with each other. Solomon was the judge, and the 
women stood before him. 

One of these women held a dead babe and the other held a 
living babe. Both the babes were very little creatures, only a 
few days old, so that the living babe was not old enough to sit 
up, or to look about it, or to smile. 

The woman who held the dead babe seemed very unhappy, 
and said to the king, This dead. babe is not my own child. The 
other babe is mine. 1 lived in the same house with that woman, 
and no one lived in the house but us two; and one night that 
woman lay upon her child in bed, and killed it; and she got up 
and put her dead babe into my bed while I was asleep, and took 
my living babe into hers. When 1 woke in the morning, I was 
going to feed my child, but found only this dead child; but 
when I had looked at it 1 saw it was not my own child. 

Then the other woman said, You do not speak the truth; 
(he living child is mine and the dead one is yours. Then the 
other woman said again, No, the living child is mine, and the 
dead one is yours. 

Which of these women spoke the truth, and which of them 
told untruth? How could Solomon find out? How could he 
tell which ought to have the living babe ? 






258 SOLOMON, OR THE WISE CHOICE. 

Buc God had made Solomon very wise, and he thought of a 
way to find out who spoke the truth. 

Solomon called out, Bring me a sword. And the servants 
brought a sword to the king. Then Solomon said, Cut the liv- 
ing child in two, and give half to one woman, and half to the 
other; because both the women say the child is theirs, so let 
them each have half. 

Then one of the women cried out, Oh! do not cut the child 
in two, but let that woman have it; only do not kill it. 

But the other woman said, Let the child be cut in two, and 
let us each have half. 

Now which do you think was the mother of the liv : ng child ? 
Was it not the one who said, Do not let it be killed ? 

Solomon knew which was the mother, and he said to his 
servant, Give her the living child and do not kill it; she is the 
mother of it. 

Why had Solomon desired the man at first to cut the babe 
in two? Had he intended to have it killed? Oh! no. He only 
wanted to see what the women would say, that he might find 
out which was the mother. Was that not a wise plan of Solo- 
mon's ? God had really made him wise as He had promised 
He would. 

All the Israelites heard of what the king had said to the 
women, and they were surprised at his wisdom, and were afraid 
of him. 



CHAPTER LIX. 



SOLOMON, OR THE TEMPLE. 



Solomon should build a house for the Lord. 
This house was to be called a temple; and it was to be very 
beautiful. 




BUILDING THE TEMPLE. 



Solomon had a great many things to build it of: gold and 
silver, and iron, and brass, and stones, and wood; and he had a 



259 



A 



260 SOLOMON, OR THE TEMPLE. 

great many servants to build it. David, his father, had told hi' n 
how to build it. 

Solomon did not build the temple upon Mount Zion, but 
upon another high hill in Jerusalem. 

Solomon ordered a great many large stones to be laid upon 
the ground for the beginning of the house; then he directed his 
servants to cut down trees. Solomon built the wall and the 
roof of wood, and covered the inside of the house with gold. 

How beautiful the house must have been inside. How 
bright it must have shone when the candlesticks were lighted. 

At last the temple was quite finished, and it was the most 
beautiful house in the world. 

It could not be moved about as the tabernacle had been in 
the wilderness; but Solomon never -wished to move it from 
Jerusalem. It was a great deal larger than the tabernacle. 

When it was finished, Solomon sent for all the people to 
come to the temple. They came, and carried the ark into a 
little room in the temple, called the Holy of Holies; Solomon 
had made a great door to the little room, and he had placed a 
great curtain or veil over the door, and had made two very 
large cherubim, or angels, of wood covered with gold, and had 
placed them in the little room. The large cherubim stood up- 
right, and each had two great wings stretched out all across the 
little room. The priests left the ark under the wings of the 
great cherubim, and no one could see into the little roon be- 
cause of the great door, and the curtain. 

The other part of the temple was filled with priests, and 
with singers all clothed in white, and holding harps and o'her 



- 







^&>r 



DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN. 






- ■ 
" 






SOLOMON, OR THE TEMPLE. 261 

Kinds of musical instruments in their hands — and some of the 
priests blew trumpets. These were the words the singers 
sung: 

"Oh! give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good, for His 
mercy endureth forever/' 

As soon as the priests nad left f he ark in the little room, 
and while the priests and singers were praising the Lord in the 
temple, the Lbrd Himself came down in a cloud, and filled the 
temple so that the priests and singers were obliged to go out 
of the temple, and to stand in the court- 
How glad Solomon was to see that the Lord had come into 
the house that he had built for Him. Solomon liked to seethe 
brightness of the Lord. 

Solomon had made a high place of brass; and put it near the 
brass altar in the court, and stood upon this high place, so that 
all the people could see him. 

And Solomon knelt down on this place, and spread wide his 
arms, and began to pray to God. His prayer was very long; 
but 1 will only tell you a small part of it. He asked God to hear 
all people who were unhappy and who were sorry for their sins, 
and to forgive them. 

When Solomon had ended his prayer, there came down fire 
from heaven, and burned up the beasts that had been killed and 
spread upon the altar. The fire did not hurt the people; it only 
burned the dead beasts on the altar. 

When the people saw the fire, and the glory of God, they 
bowed themselves down to the ground, and praised the Lord, 
and said, He is good; His mercy endureth forever. 



262 



SOLOMON, OR THE TEMPLE. 



At last the people went home to their own houses, but they 
eery often came to offer sacrifices at the temple, and to pray to 
God. 



4;= ! I 

M ' '' 

t/(:i-:\:'\-:-<: ::[■■■: 
,-.V:'i>'-V 

i^n >• •iiJIII, 

■HHV..I.H " 







SOLOMON'S THRONE. 






CHAPTER LX. 



SOLOMON, OR THE QUEEN S VISIT. 



You remember how God once spoke to Solomon in the 
night, and how He let him choose what he would have. 

A long while afterward God spoke to Solomon again in the 
night. 

God said, I have heard your prayer and if you obey me as 
David did, I will bless you; but if you do wicked things, and 
worship idols, then 1 shall be very angry, and this beautiful 
house that you have built shall be thrown down. 

Solomon was very rich and very wise, as God had promised. 
He built a great many ships, a palace, and a great many towns; 
and he made a great throne with six steps all covered with gold, 
and images of two lions on each of the steps, a lion on each 
side, and a seat at the top for himself. 

When Solomon spoke, he said such wise things that people 
came from a great way off to hear him, and brought him pres- 
ents; some brought cups of gold or silver, and some brought 
clothes, and others brought spices, and some brought horses 
and mules. 

So Solomon grew very rich. He sent his ships to far 
countries over the sea, and they came back full of gold, silver, 
and ivory. Solomon was the richest king in the world. 

I told you that people came from far countries to hear him 
say wise things, for Solomon knew a great deal: he knew all 
about the plants from the highest tree down to the least plant 

263 



r i 




QUEEN OF SHEBA. 



264 



! 



SOLOMON, OR THE QUEEN'S VISIT. 



265 



.hat grows; he knew about the beasts, birds, fishes, worms, and 
insects; but he knew something much better than these things, 
he knew about God and how to please Him, and he gave peo- 
ple very wise advice. 




THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.AND SOLOMON. 

Now there was a queen who lived a great way off, who heard 
of Solomon, and how wise he was; and she wished very much 
to hear him talk, and to see the house he had built. 

She had a great many questions to ask him: I believe that 
her questions were about God. She had not been taught 
about God in her own country, and she wanted to know a great 



266 SOLOMON, OR THE QUEEN'S VISIT. 

deal about Him. She was called the queen of Sheba. She was 
very rich, so she brought a great many servants with her, and a 
great many camels with spices and gold, as presents. 

Solomon was very kind, and answered all the questions that 
she asked. He showed her all the things he had built. The 
queen was quite surprised at all she saw and heard, and said to 
king Solomon, How happy are your servants who are always 
standing near you, and who hear the wise things you say. 
Blessed be the Lord your God, who has made you king. 

Then she gave a great deal of gold and silver to king Solo- 
mon, and he gave her all the things that she desired; and then 
the queen went back with her camels and her servants into her 
own country. 

The queen of Sheba brought back to her own home some- 
thing better than her presents; she brought a great deal of wis- 
dom in her mind. I hope th it she left off worshiping idols, 
and loved the true God. 

A great many of the wise things that Solomon said, are writ- 
ten down in the Bjble;*they are called 'The Proverbs." When 
you are older, my dear children, 1 hope you will read them. I 
think even now you would understand some of them 



CHAPTER LXI. 



SOLOMON, OR THE IDOLS. 



vji 



Jod had appeared to Solomon twice. The first time God 
promised to make Solomon wise; and the next time to bless 
him, if he served him. 




IDOLATRY OF SOLOMON. 



I must now tell you of the wicked things that Solomon did, 
when he was old. 

He married a great many wives. This was wrong. People 



267 



268 SOLOMON, OR THE IDOLS. 

might then have had two wives, or a few wives; but God liked 
best that they should only have one. You remember that Jacob 
had two wives. If a man now was to have two wives, he would 
be punished; then he might have two wives, but not so many 
as Solomon had. 

Solomon had seven hundred wives. 1 think that Solomon 
had grown proud, and that he wished to be a very grand king, 
and it was thought very grand for a king to have many wives. 

These wives were wicked: they worshiped idols. At last 
these wives persuaded Solomon to like their idols, and to build 
altars for the idols on the high places round Jerusalem; and 
Solomon did even worse than this, he worshiped some of the 
idols himself. You did not think that he could have been so 
wicked. He was very foolish to worship idols, which are only 
made of wood, or stone. Solomon knew what was right, but 
he did not do it. 

God was very angry with Solomon, and said to him, Be- 
cause you have done this, one of your servants shall make him- 
self king; he shall take away a great deal of the land of Canaan 
from your son, as soon as you are dead. 

I believe Solomon was sorry for his wickedness before 
he died; but 1 am not quite sure that he was. It must have 
made him very sorry to know that God would punish him. 

When a king dies, the king's son is king instead of his 
father. So, when Solomon died, his son was king instead of 
him; but very soon one of Solomon's servants tried to make 
himself king. The servant's name was Jer-o-bo-am. This 
servant made himself the king over a great part of Canaan; but 
Solomon's son was still king over the rest of the land. 



CHAPTER LXII. 

JEROBOAM, OR THE-DRIED-UP HAND. 

Jeroboam made himself king over part of Canaan. Jerusa- 
lem was not in Jeroboam's part of Canaan; it was in the part 
that Solomon's son was king over. It was a good thing for 
Solomon's son that he had Jerusalem. The temple was in 
Jerusalem; and in the temple, God came down in a glorious 
cloud. 

You know that God had desired all the people in Canaan to 
come to Jerusalem very often to worship him. Jeroboam 
ought to have come to Jerusalem to worship God; but he 
would not. He was very wicked, and he told his people not to 
go to Jerusalem. 

He did not like to go, because there was another king in 
Jerusalem. He did not wish his people to go to a place where 
there was another king, lest they should like the other king 
best. Then Jeroboam did a very wicked thing: he made two 
golden calves, and set them up in his part of Canaan, one calf 
in one town and the other calf in anothei town. He set up the 
calves that people might worship them instead of God. He said, 
Do not go to Jerusalem, it is too far off; worship these golden 
calves. 

Jeroboam worshiped the calves himself. One day God 
sent a prophet to tell him of his wickedness. Jeroboam was 
standing by an altar burning incense to a golden calf, when the 
prophet came, and told him how angry God was with the peo- 

269 



270 JEROBOAM, OR THE DR1ED-UP HAND, 

pie who worshiped the golden calves, and how he would punish 
them. And the prophet said, This is a sign that God is angry; 
the altar shall be broken and the ashes that are on it shall fall to 
the ground. 

When king Jeroboam heard this he was angry, and he 
wished to punish the prophet; so he stretched out his hand, 
and said to his servants, Lay hold on him. Now while Jero- 
boam's hand was stretched out, God made it grow dry and stiff, 
so that he could not pull it back; at the same time the altar 
was broken, and the ashes fell upon the ground, as the prophet 
had said. 

Jeroboam must have been frightened then. He knew that 
no one could make his hand well but God; so he said to the 
prophet, Pray thou to the Lord thy God for me, that my hand 
may be made well. 

The prophet prayed to God, and God made the king's hand 
well. 

Then Jeroboam did not try to hurt the prophet any more, 
because he was afraid; but Jeroboam did not repent of wor- 
shiping idols and turn to God; he went on teaching his people to 
pray to the golden calves. And God was angry with Jeroboam. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 

ELIJAH, OR THE RAVENS. 

Jeroboam was called king of Israel; and Solomon's son was 
called king of Judah. At last Jeroboam died, and there was 
another king instead of him; and at last that king died, and then 
there was another king; and at last he died, and then there was 
another king, so there were a great many kings, one after the 
other. 1 am sorry to say that they were all wicked, and that 
they all worshiped the golden calves that Jeroboam had made. 
I will not tell you the names of these kings; and my reason is, 
1 am afraid that you will not remember them. But I will tell 
you the name of one of them. 

At last, after a great many kings had died, one after another, 
there was a king called Ahab. 

He was more wicked than any of the other kings. One of 
the worst things he did, was to marry a wicked woman who 
worshiped idols. This woman was the daughter of the king of 
another country; she had been brought up to worship idols, 
and she was very fond of idols, and did a great many wicked 
things. This woman's name was Jezebel. 

The name of Jezebel's favorite idol was Baal; and she per- 
suaded Ahab to worship Baal, as well as the golden calves: and 
Ahab built a temple for Baal in the town where he lived. There 
were a great many men who used to teach people to worship 
Baal, and these men were called the prophets of Baal: and Jez- 
ebel was very kind to them, but she tried to kill the people who 

271 



272 



ELIJAH, OR THE RAVENS. 



loved God. There were some people in the land of Israel who 
would not worship Baal. 

One very good prophet that lived in the land of Israel 
was named Elijah: he would not worship idols, and he tried to 
persuade other people to love the true God. God often spoke 




THE RAVENS FEEDING ELIJAH. 



to him, and toid him what would happen, and Elijah prayed very 
often to God. 

Ahab and Jezebel hated Elijah because he was good, and they 
would have liked to kill him. Elijah was very sorry to see so 
many people in the land worshiping Baal; and he wished very 



ELIJAH, OR THE RAVENS. 273 

much that they should be sorry for their wickedness. At last 
God sent the people a punishment. 

God did not send any rain for a great .many months, nor 
did He let any dew come on the grass in the morning; so the 
hot sun scorched the grass, and the corn did not grow, and the 
trees did not bring forth fruit. All the people were very un- 
happy. - 

How did Elijah get food when there was no rain? God told 
him to go to a place where there was a brook, in a secret place, 
where he might hide himself from Ahab: and God promised to 
send some ravens to feed him. 

So Elijah went to this brook, and he drank of the water of 
the brook; and in the morning some ravens flew to him, and 
brought him some bread and meat; and in the evening they 
came again, and brought him some more bread and meat; and 
the next day they came again, both morning and evening; so 
Elijah had breakfast and supper every day, and he wanted noth- 
ing more. 

Most ravens are wild, but God made these ravens gentle. 
Elijah must have been glad when he saw them coming with 
the food. How he must have thanked God for sending them 
every day. 

Elijah lived quite alone by the brook, but he knew that God 
was with him. After a while there was very little water in the 
brook; the sun dried up the water, and no rain came to fill it 
up. At last there was none left. 



'fit 'I ■ ' . I '/ 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

ELIJAH, OR THE WIDOW. 

When the brook was dried up, he told Elijah to go a great 
way off to a place where a poor widow lived, who would give 
him food. 

Elijah went across the land of Canaan, till he came to a town 
just outside Canaan. Now the people who lived in this town 
were heathen, and worshiped idols. 

When Elijah came to the gate of the town, he saw a poor 
woman gathering sticks, and Elijah knew that she was the 
widow who was to give him food; he called to her, and said, 
Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a cup, that I may drink. 

I do not wonder that Elijah was thirsty, for he had walked 
a long way, and there was now very little water in the land oi 
Canaan. 

This widow was kind, and started for the water for Elijah 
Then he called her again, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a 
morsel of bread. 

Then the poor widow said, I have no bread; I have only a 
handful of flour, and a little oil in a jar, and I was just gathering 
some sticks that 1 might make a fire, and make the flour and 
oil into a little cake, that 1 and my son might eat it; and as we 
have no more food, when we have eaten it we must die. 

Elijah said to the widow, Go and make a little cake for me 
first, and afterward make one for you and your son; for God 
has said, that there shall always be flour in your barrel, and oil 
in your jar, till He sends rain again upon the earth 

274 



ELIJAH, OR THE WIDOUr. 275 

What a wonderful promise this was. She went and made a 
fire, and mixed the flour and oil together, and made some bread 
for Elijah, and then she made some for herself and her son; 
and still there was flour in the barrel, and oil in the jar; and 
every day she found enough for them all. 

Elijah came and lived with this poor widow; he lived in a 
room up-stairs. She found it was a good thing to have such 
a man in the house. Elijah could teach her about God; for you 
know that she had been brought up to worship idols. 

Now you shall hear of a very sad thing that happened to 
this poor woman. One day her son, who was a little boy, fell 
sick, and he was so very sick that he died. The poor widow was 
unhappy. She knew that God had let him die, and she thought 
that God was angry with her; and she wished that Elijah had 
not come to her house; so she went to Elijah, and spoke 
angrily to him. It was very ungrateful in her to behave in this 
manner. Then Elijah said, Give me thy son. 

Now the widow was holding the dead child in her arms, 
and Elijah took the child in his own arms, and carried him to 
his own room, and laid him on his bed. Then Elijah began to 
pray to God. O Lord my God! he said, hast thou made this 
sad thing happen to the widow ? • 

Then Elijah stretched himsef upon the child, as it lay dead; 
he did so three times, and he prayed to God, saying, Lord, 
my God! I pray thee let this child's soul come into him again. 

And the Lord heard Elijah's prayer, and let the child's soul 
come into him again, and then the child was alive. Then it was 
warm, and it breathed. 







ELIJAH RESTORING THE WIDOW'S CHILD. 



276 



ELIJAH. OR THE WIDOW. 



271 



Elijah took the child in his arms, and brought him down 
stairs, and gave him to his mother, and said, See, thy son is 
alive. Was she angry now with Elijah? Oh no. Now, said 
she, I see that you are a man of God, and all that you tell m 
about God is true. 



Ok 




CHAPTER LXV. 

ELIJAH, OR THE TWO ALTARS. 

Elijah lived a long while with the poor widow. Ahab and 
Jezebel, the wicked king and queen, did not know where he 
was. They would have been glad to find him. Ahab sent to 
all the countries round; but no one could find him. Ahab was 
angry with Elijah because Elijah had told Ahab that God was 
angry with him for worshiping idols. 

The Israelites were very unhappy because they had so little 
food; even king Ahab had not grass enough in his fields for his 
horses, so that a great many of them died. 

Elijah was sorry for the Israelites, and prayed to God to 
send rain, that more corn and grass might grow. God heard 
this prayer, and he told Elijah that he would send rain; but first 
he told Elijah to go and show himself to king Ahab. 

Elijah did what God told him; for he knew that God would 
take care of him. So Elijah left the widow and her son, and 
set out on a long journey. I think that the widow must have 
been sorry when Elijah went, he had fed her and taught her 
about God; but God had promised to make her flour and oil 
last till he sent rain. 

Now while Elijah was on his way to king Ahab, he met a 
good servant of Ahab's. 

This servant was looking for grass for king Ahab's horses. 
The servant knew Elijah. 

Then Elijah said, Go and tell king Ahab, that 1 am here. 

278 



ELIJAH, OR THE TWO ALTARS. 279 

The servant was afraid, for he thought that while he was 
gone to tell Ahab, God would take away Elijah, and that Ahab 
would be angry and kill him. Ahab was a cruel master, and 
his servant was afraid of making him angry. 

But Elijah promised that he would stay till Ahab came, so 
the servant believed Elijah's promise, and went to look for 
Ahab. 

His servant told him that Elijah was waiting to see him. So 
Ahab came to the place. 

When Ahab saw Elijah, he spoke angrily, and said, Are you 
the man that troubles the people of Israel? 

Ahab thought it was Elijah who had asked God not to let 
the rain come. 

Then Elijah said to Ahab, It is not I that trouble the people 
of Israel. It is you that have made these troubles come by your 
wickedness. You have not obeyed God, and you have wor- 
shiped Baal. 

Then Elijah told Ahab to get all the propnets of Baal to- 
gether, and send them to him on a very high hill. 

Would Ahab do what Elijah had asked? Yes, because he 
wanted rain, and he thought that Elijah could ask God to 
send it. 

One morning very early Elijah was on the high mountain 
with Baal's wicked prophets, and a great many people were 
standing all round; and king Ahab was there. 

Elijah wanted them to see that his God was the true God; 
so he said to them, Let Baal's prophets take a bullock and kill 
it, and lay it on the altar, and then let them ask Baal to send fire 
from heaven to burn up the bullock. I will take another bul- 



280 ELIJAH, OR THE 1WO ALTARS. 

lock and kill it, and lay it on the altar. I will ask the Lord to send 
fire from heaven; and if Baal send fire, then you will know that 
He is the true God; but if my God send fire, then you will 
know that He is the true God. 

The people liked what Elijah said, and they answered, It is 
well spoken. 

Then Elijah told Baal's prophets to take their bullock first. 
So they took it and killed it, and put it on the altar with some 
wood; but they put no fire to the wood. Then they began to 
pray to their god to send fire. They cried, O Baal, hear us. 
They went on calling out, O Baal! hear us, till twelve o'clock; 
and they jumped about the altar, as they used to do when they 
prayed to him. 

At last Elijah said to them, Cry louder. Perhaps your god 
is talking, or perhaps he is hunting, or perhaps he is taking a 
journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and you must wake him. 

Was Elijah in earnest? Oh! no; he knew that Baal was 
nothing at all: only those foolish people said that there was a 
god called Baal. 

Still the prophets of Baal went on praying for fire; and at 
last they cut themselves with knives, and made blood flow, be- 
cause they thought it would please Baal; they thought he was a 
cruel god that liked their blood. So they went on till three 
o'clock n the afternoon; but no fire came from heaven. 

Then Elijah said it was time to ask his God to send fire; so 
Elijah built an altar with twelve stones, and laid some wood on 
the altar and laid the bullock on the wood; and then he desired 
the people to throw twelve barrels of water over the altar. 
There was a river just at the bottom of the hill. Elijah made a 



ELIJAH, OR THE TWO ALTARS. 



z*l 



iitch all around the altar, and this ditch was quite filled with 
v ater, and the altar was wet. 

Elijah wished the water to be poured over the sacrifice, to 
show the people that he had not hid any fire in the altar, or 
near it; for if he had, the water would have put it out. 




DEATH OF THE PRIESTS OF BAAL. 

All the people were standing round, while he prayed before 

the altar. 

This is what he said: Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac, and 
of Jacob, let it be known this day that Thou art God, and that 
I am Thy servant. 



282 



ELIJAH, OR The two altars. 



And God heard Elijah. Fire came from heaven, and burnt 
up the bullock and the altar; yes, the fire burnt the stones, and 
even the water that was in the ditch. 

How surprised the people were at this sight. They fell on 
their faces and said, The Lord He is the God. 

Now they saw that Baal was not the true God. So Elijah 
desired the people to take hold of the wicked prophets of Baal, 
and to bring them down to the river at the bottom of the hill, 
and to kill them with swords. These prophets had taught the 
people to worship Baal, so God chose that they should die. 

Did the people leave off worshiping Baal? We shall soon 
hear what they did. 




RUTH. 







ELIJAH'S SERVANT SEEING THE CLOUD. 



283 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

ELIJAH, OR THE RAIN. 

You have heard how the prophets of Baal were killed. Now 
Elijah knew that God would soon send rain; so he told Ahab 
that there would soon be rain, and that he might go and eat 
and drink. But Elijah did not eat and drink. He went up to 
the top of the hill to pray. He threw himself upon the 
earth, and bent down his head very low. 

Elijah told his servant to stand up while he himself was pray- 
ing, and to look a great way off over the sea, and to tell him 
what he saw. Do you know what Elijah wished his servant to 
see? Elijah wanted God to send clouds in the sky, that there 
might be rain. The servant went up and looked and said, 
There is nothing. Then Elijah told him to go and look sever 
times. The seventh time the servant came and said, I saw ; 
little cloud a great way off, as big as a man's hand. 

Elijah knew that God had heard his prayer, and that th< 
cloud would grow larger, and that rain would soon come down 
So he told the servant to tell Ahab to get ready his chariot ana 
horses, and to drive fast to his own house, which was a great 
way off; for that theie would soon be a great rain. 

So Ahab rode in his chariot with his horses, and God made 
Elijah so strong that he ran faster than the horses, and got first 
to the city where Ahab lived. While Ahab was driving, and 
Elijah was running, there were a great many clouds in the sky, 
an 1 soon there was a great rain. 

How glad the people were when the rain came down. It 

284 




ELIJAH IN THE WILDERNESS. 
285 



286 ELIJAH, OR THE RAIN. 

filled the dried-up ponds, refreshed the withered grass, and 
softened the hard ground. Now the people knew that more 
corn and grass would soon grow in the fields. 

When Ahab got to his own city where he lived, he found 
the queen Jezebel there, and he told her all that had happened: 
he told her how Baal did not send fire from heaven, and how 
God did; and he told her how Elijah had killed the prophets of 
Baal. 

Jezebel was very angry with Elijah, and she sent a man to 
tell him that she would kill him the next day. 

When Elijah heard that Jezebel wished to kill him, he was 
afraid, and would not stay in the city where she lived; but he 
went very quickly all through the land of Canaan, till he came to 
a great wilderness. He did not take his servant with him, but 
went there alone. In the wilderness there were trees and hills, 
but very few houses and people. 

Elijah was quite alone. He sat down under a tree, and 
prayed to God to let him die. He was afraid that Jezebel 
would kill him; but he was more unhappy because Jezebel went 
on in her wickedness. After Elijah had prayed, he lay down 
under the tree, and went to sleep. Soon some one touched 
him. It was an angel. The angel said, Arise and eat. 

Then Elijah looked, and saw a fire, and some bread near it 
that had just been baked; and a jug of water was close to his 
head. Who could have got ready the bread and the water? 
It must have been the angel. So you see that an angel was his 
servant. God sends his angels to wait upon people who love 
Him. They fly down quickly from heaven, when God tells 
them to. 



ELIJAH, OR THE RAIN. 



2S7 



Elijah ate and drank the bread and water, and then lay down 
again, and slept. But soon the angel woke him again, and said, 
Arise and eat, for you will soon walk a great way. 

So Elijah ate and drank again, and afterward walked a great 
way in the wilderness; but the angel's food had made him 
strong, and he lived without eating and drinking for forty days. 




SOLOMON'S WISE CHOICE. 



CHAPTER LXVII. 



ELIJAH, OR THE CALL OF ELISHA. 






Elijah walked forty days in the wilderness, till at last h 
came to a mountain. There he found a cave; and he went in 
and slept While here, God spoke, and asked him why he had 
come there. 

Then Elijah said, The people of Israel have thrown down 
God's altars, and killed God's prophets, and 1 am the only one 
left; and they try to kill me. 

Then God told him to come out of the cave. Elijah came 
out, and stood upon the mountain. And God made a very 
great wind blow, that tore the mountain; then he made the 
mountain shake, and fire come. How dreadful it must have 
been to see and hear these things. But God wanted to show 
Elijah how strong He was; so he might know that God could 
take care of him, and punish wicked people who tried to hurt 
him. Then God spoke to Elijah in a gentle voice, and when he 
heard his voice, he covered his face with his cloak, and went 
and stood inside the cave. 

God asked Elijah again wny he came there, and Elijah told 
the Lord again that the people were wicked, and that they 
wanted to kill him. 

Then God told Elijah that He would soon punish the wicked 
people for worshiping idols; and God said that all the people 
did not worship Baal; and that there were a great many in Israel 
who had never bowed their knees to Baal. 

288 



ELIJAH, OR THE CALL OF EL1SHA. 



289 



God told Elijah to go and find a man called Elisha, and 
anoint him prophet. 

Then Elijah left the cave, and went to look for Elisha. At 
iast he came to a field where a man was plowing. There were 




ELIJAH PASSED BY HIM. 



twenty-four oxen drawing the plow. They were harnessed 
two and two; and each pair had a great piece of wood over their 
necks, called a yoke. A man was walking by the side of the 
last oxen. This man's name was Elisha. 

Elijah came up to the man, and taking off his own cloak, 






290 



ELIJAH, OR THE CALL OF ELISHA. 



thn w it over the other's shoulders. Why did he throw the 
cloak over the man? He wished to show him that he was to 
come with him; and the man knew what Elijah meant. He 
left his oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, I will come with 
thee; only let me first go and kiss my father and mother. 




A HIGH PRIEST. 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 

ELIJAH, OR THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 

I am going to tell you of a very wicked thing that Ahab did. 
He was very rich. He had two houses. One of his houses 
as in one town, and the other was in another town. Near one 
)i these houses there was a garden full of vines. A garden of 
vines is called a vineyard. This vineyard was close to Allah's 
house, and belonged to a man. called Naboth. Ahab wished 
very much to have this vineyard. So Ahab said to Naboth, If 
you will give me your vineyard, I will give you a better one in- 
stead, or 1 will give you some money for it. 

But Naboth answered, No; my father gave it to me, and I 
do not choose to sell it. 

Ahab was angry, because he could not get the vineyard, and 
went home to his other house. He was so unhappy that he lay 
down and turned away his face, and would not eat any bread. 

Ahab was foolish to be unhappy about a vineyard. He had 
a great many beautiful things, yet he wanted more. 

Jezebel saw how unhappy Ahab seemed, and she went to 
him, and said, What makes you so sad? 

And Ahab said, I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard, and 
he said, "I will not sell it" 

Then Jezebel said, Are you not a king? Do not be unhappy: 
eat and drink; I will give you the vineyard. 

Jezebel had a wicked plan in her mind— she meant to have 
Naboth killed! So she wrote some letters to some wicked 

291 



» ;. I I 




JEZEBEL LOOKING OUT ON JEHU. 



292 




NABOTH'S VINEYARD. 



293 






294 ELIJAH, OR THE VINEYARD OF N A BOTH. 

judges who lived near Naboth, and told them to get some other 
wicked people to say that they had heard Naboth say very 
wicked words against God and the king; and then to order 
people to kill him for it. 

Then Jezebel sent these wicked letters to the judges in the 
town where Naboth lived. When they had read them, they 
did as she told them. They desired two men to say that they 
had heard Naboth say very wicked words against God and the 
king. And then the judges said that Naboth must be killed; 
and the people took him out of the city, and threw great stones 
at him till he died. God saw the blood of Naboth, and was 
very angry with the wicked Jezebel, who had ordered him to 
be killed; and God was angry with Ahab too, because he had 
allowed Jezebel to write the letters. 

Jezebel said to Ahab, Go, and take the vineyard of Naboth; 
for he is not alive but dead. Then Ahab went where the vine- 
yard was, to take it for his own. 

God spoke to Elijah, and said, Go to the vineyard where 
Ahab ir, and tell him that dogs shall one day lick his blood. 

So Elijah went to the vineyard. 

I am glad to tell you that Ahab was frightened at the mes- 
sage, and was very unhappy. If Ahab had not cared for what 
God had said, God would have been still more angry with him. 
A long while afterward, Ahab went to fight a battle against 
some people who lived near Canaan. Ahab went to the battle 
in a chariot drawn by horses. A man there shot an arrow into 
his body, and the blood began to flow out. The driver of the 
chariot took Ahab back to the land of Canaan, and as Ahab was 
on the way, he died. 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

ELIJAH, OR THE THREE CAPTAINS. 

When Ahab was dead, there was another king. He was 
one of Ahab's sons, and his name was A-ha-zi-ah. He was 
wicked like his father Ahab, and his mother Jezebel. He wor- 
shiped idols too. 

After he had been king a little while, he met with a dread- 
ful accident. He was in a room upstairs, and fell out of the 
window. He thought that perhaps he should die, and he 
wanted very much to know whether he would get well. Aha- 
ziah was so foolish that he thought an idol could tell whether 
he should die or live. So he sent his servants a great way 
off, to an idol. 

As the servants were going to the idol, they met a man, 
but did not know who he was. This man was dressed in the 
skins of beasts with the hair outside, and he wore round his 
waist a piece of leather called a girdle. It was Elijah. God had 
told him to speak to the servants of king Ahaziah. 

Elijah told the servants that God was angry with Ahaziah for 
sending to an idol to know whether he should get well; and 
that he should surely die. 

How surprised the servants must have been when they 
found that the man they met knew where they were going, and 
what the king's message was. They did not go on to the idol's 
house, but they went back to tell Ahaziah what the prophet had 
said. He said to the servants, What sort of a man was he? 

295 



296 ELIJAH, OR THE THREE CAPTAINS. 

And the servants said, He wore clothes covered with hair, 
and a leathern girdle. 

Then Ahaziah said, It is Elijah. 

Ahaziah was very angry with Elijah for having said that he 
should die, and he wanted to see him; but he knew that Elijah 
could do wonders, so he determined to send a great many men 
to find Elijah, and to make him come. So he ordered a cap- 
tain to take fifty soldiers with him, and'to go and bring Elijah. 

The captain found Elijah sitting on the top of a hill; and the 
captain spoke to him m a rude manner, and said, Thou man of 
God, the king hath said, Come down. 

Elijah said, If I be a man of God. then let fire come down 
from heaven, and burn up you and your fifty men. And the 
fire came down from heaven, and burned up the captain and 
his fifty men. 

Ahaziah found that the captain and the soldiers did not come 
back. Then Ahaziah sent another captain with fifty soldiers; 
and this captain found Elijah on the top of the hill; and he said, 
O man of God! thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. 
You see that this captain spoke even more mdely than the 
other captain had done, for he said, Come down quickly. 

And Elijah answered, If I be a man of God, let fire come 
down from heaven, and burn you up and your fifty men. And 
the fire of God came down from heaven, and burned them up. 
So these soldiers never returned to king Ahaziah. 

Then he sent another captain and fifty other soldiers. Now 
this captain had. heard what had happened to the other captains. 
What could this poor captain do? The king would have been 
very angry if he had said he would not go. This is what the 



ELIJAH, OR THE THREE CAPTAINS. 



297 



captain did. He went to Elijah, and behaved in a very humble 
manner. He threw himself down upon his knees and begged 
Elijah to spare his life. The .angel of the Lord said to Elijah, 
Go down with him; be not afraid. 

So Elijah went with this captain to the king. 

Elijah found Ahaziah lying sick in bed, and he told him that 
because he had sent to ask the idol whether he should get well, 
God would let him die. 

Very soon afterward king Ahaziah died, and there was an- 
other king instead of him, and he was wicked. 




CHAPTER LXX. 

ELIJAH, OR THE CHARIOT OF FIRE. 

Elijah once wished to die. But God chose that he should 
never die, but go up to heaven without dying. When Elijah 
knew that he was soon going up into heaven, he went to a 
great many places where his friends lived. 

I think they must have felt sorry to part with him; only they 
knew that he was going to be happy. 

Elisha wished very much to see Elijah go up to heaven, so 
he determined to keep close to him. Elijah said, Pray stay at 
this place, while 1 go to another place, where the Lord has told 
me to go. 

And Elisha said, 1 will not leave thee. 

Soon afterward Elijah said, Stay at this place while I go on. 

No, said Elisha, I will not leave thee. 

Soon Elijah said again, Stay at this place while I go on. 

No, said Elisha, 1 will not leave thee. 

So Elijah and Elisha walked a great way together from place 
to place. At last they came to the river Jordan. Then Eli- 
jah took off his cloak, and folded it up, and struck the waters 
with it; and God made a path through the waters, and Elijah 
and Elisha walked through the river on dry ground. 

After they were gone over the river, Elijah said to Elisha, 
Ask what 1 shall do for thee before 1 be taken. 

Elisha wished to be such a prophet as Elijah was, so he 
asked for a great deal of his spirit. He did not want people to 
praise him; he wanted them to praise God. 

298 




ELIJAH TAKEN UP IN THE CHARIOT. 



299 



300 ELIJAH, OR THE CHARIOT OF FIRE. 

Elijah said, You have asked a hard thing, but if you see me 
when I am taken, it shall be so; but if not, it shall not be so. 

They still walked on, and talked to each other. I think they 
talked of God, and of heaven, and of what they could do to 
please God. 

As they were talking, there came down from heaven a 
chariot, and horses of fire — that is, angels, who are bright like 
the fire — and Elijah was taken away from Elisha, and carried up 
into heaven: and Elisha cried out, My father, my father! 

Elisha loved Elijah as if he had been his father; for he had 
taught him about God. As Elijah was taken away, his cloak 
^ell from him, and Elisha picked it up, and when he came back 
to the river Jordan, he struck the waters with it as Elijah had 
done, and the waters went up on each side, and there was a dry 
path, and Elisha walked over alone. 

Then Elisha saw that God had made him such a prophet as 
Elijah had been. Some of Elijah's friends were standing on 
the other side of the river, and they saw the wonder that Elisha 
had done, and they said, The spirit of Elijah is in Elisha. And 
they came, and bowed themselves down to him. 

Now Elisha began to go about from place to place., as Elijah 
had once done, and teach people about God, and do wonders, 
to show people that his God was the true God. 






CHAPTER LXX1. 

EL1SHA, OR THE BEARS. 

People who loved God loved Elisha, but wicked people 
hated him. There were some people who even laughed at him; 
there were even some little children who dared to mock him. 
I will tell you about these children. 

People who have no hair, or only a little hair, on their heads, 
are called bald. Elisha was bald. One day Elisha came near a 
town where a great many people lived, who worshiped idols. 
Little children came out and met Elisha; they mocked him, and 
said, Go up, thou bald head. They told Elisha to go up to 
heaven as Elijah had done, that they might not see him any 
more. 

Elisha turned, and said that God would send them a dread- 
ful punishment. 

The children soon found that Elisha had spoken truth; for 
two bears came out of the wood, and tore forty-two of these 
children into pieces. 

No doubt the children tried to run away, when they saw the 
bears coming, but it was of no use; they could not escape. 

You have now heard what became of wicked children 
who mocked Elisha, and you shall hear next of his kindness to 
a poor woman who had lost her husband. Her husband had 
been a good prophet, but poor, and had not been able to pay for 
all the things he had bought. 

The woman came to Elisha and said, My husband is dead, 

301 






302 ELISHA, OR THE BEAKS. 

and I cannot pay my debts. A man is come to take away my 
two sons to be slaves. 

The woman was very unhappy at the thought of losing 
her dear boys. Elisha was sorry and said, What hast thou in 
the house? 

And the woman said, 1 have nothing but cne pot of oil. 
Sweet oil was used for food. 

Elisha said, Go and borrow a great many empty cups, jugs, 
and basins, and bring them into thy house, and shut the door 
upon thee and thy sons, and pour the oil into all these cups 
and basins, and put them by. 

The woman knew that Elisha could do miracles, because 
God was with him to help him, so did as Elisha had told her. 

She poured, and poured, and still there was oil left in her 
pot. At last she said to her son, Bring me another cup. But 
he said, There is no more. So she went to Elisha, and he said, 
Go and sell your oil, and pay your debt; and when the debt is 
paid, keep all the money that is over to buy bread for yourself 
and your children. 



CHAPTER LXXII. 

ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE ROOM. 

Elisha used to go from place to place to teach people abuvt 
God. 

There was one very rich lady who used to ask Elisha to 
come in. 

This kind woman wished that she had a room for Elisha to 
sleep in, and she said to her husband, Let us make a little room 
close to our house; and let us put in it a bed, a table, a stool, 
and a candlestick, that Elisha may sleep in it when he comes 
this way. 

And the lady's husband allowed her to have such a little 
room built. Soon afterward Elisha came that way, and slept in 
the room. Elisha must have liked it very much — he could sit 
there alone, and think of God; he could write because there 
was a table, and when it was dark he could light the candle, and 
go on writing or reading. 

Elisha thought the woman had been very kind to make a 
room for him, and he wished to do something to please her, 
for he was grateful: he was very kind to people who were kind 
to him. Now Elisha had a servant called Gehazi. Elisha told 
Gehazi to ask the woman to come to him. And she came. 
Elisha thanked her for her kindness and asked whether she 
would like to have him speak to the king about her, so that the 
king might take notice of her. 

Then the woman said, No, she would rather stay where she 

303 






304 ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE ROOM. 

was. So Elisha said to Gehazi, What shall I do for herf And 
Gehazi said, She has no child. 

Gehazi thought that she would like to have a little child. 
Then Elisha told Gehazi to call her again, and she came, and 
stood at the door. And Elisha said, Next year you shall have a 
son. 

The woman was very much surprised to hear this, and 
could hardly believe it. Next year she had a son. She was 
very fond of him indeed. She thought it was very kind in 
God to give him to her. 

One day when the child was grown old enough to talk, 
he went out with his father into a field where men were reap- 
ing; for his father had a great many fields full of grain. It was 
morning, yet the sun was hot, and the child soon cried out, My 
head, my head! The child felt such a pain in his head, that he 
could not stay in the field. 

So the father said to one of his servants, Carry him to his 
mother. The servant carried him home to his mother, and he 
sat on her knees till twelve o'clock, and then died. Oh! how 
sad the mother was, when she found her little boy was dead. 

The mother went into the room she had made for Elisha, 
and laid him on his bed, and shut the door. Elisha lived at a 
place a great way off, and the lady wished very much to go 
and see him. She asked her husband to allow her to have one 
of the servants go with her, and one of the horses for her 
to ride upon, that she might go to Elisha. And her husband 
said, Why do you want to go to Elisha to-day? This is not the 
Sabbath day. Because Elisha used to teach people about God 
on the Sabbath day. 




DEATH OF THE WOMAN'S CHILD. 



305 






306 ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE ROOM. 

And the woman said, It shall be well. But she did not tell 
him why she wanted to go; I suppose she was afraid of griev- 
ing him. A servant went with the lady, and she said to the 
servant, Go quickly and do not stop, unless I tell you. 

At last they came to the hill where Elisha was. He was 
with his servant Gehazi; and he saw the woman coming, white 
she was a great way off, and he wanted to know why she was 
coming to him so quickly, for he thought that something was 
the matter. So he said to Gehazi, Run now to meet her, and 
say, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it 
well with thy child? 

So Gehazi ran, and asked the woman. And she said, It is 
well. She knew that it was well, or right, because God had 
made her child die. Yet the poor lady felt very unhappy. 

When she came up to Elisha, she got off her horse and 
threw her arms round Elisha's feet. Gehazi was going to 
thrust her away. But Elisha would not let him do so, but said, 
Let her alone; she is very unhappy, and God has not told me 
what has happened to her. 

Then the woman said to Elisha, Did I ask you for a son? 

Then Elisha saw that her son was dead. So he gave his 
own staff or stick to Gehazi, and told him to go quickly, and to 
lay the staff upon the face of the child. 

Gehazi went and laid the staff on the child's face, but the 
child remained quite dead. So Gehazi went and met Elisha 
coming, and said, The child is not awakened. 

At last Elisha came to the house. He went into his own 
little room, and found the child lying dead on the bed; he shut 
the door, and prayed to God to make him alive again; and then 



ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE ROOM. 



307 



lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon the child's mouth, 
and his eyes upon the child's eyes, and his hands upon the 
child's hands, and the child's flesh began to grow warm. Soon 
the child sneezed seven times, and then opened his eyes. 




ELISHA RESTORING THE SON TO HIS MOTHER. 

Then Elisha called Gehazi, and desired him to go and tell the 
woman to come. When she came into the room, Elisha said 
Take up thy son. Before she took up the child, she fell at 
Elisha's feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and then she 
took up her child, and went out of the room. 



308 



ELtSHA, OR THE LITTLE ROOM. 



Elijah once made a widow's child alive again- and now 
E sha made a child alive; for Elisha was such'a prophet a" 
Elijah had been, and could do wonders like him God had 
Paused that he should be like Elijah, if he saw him taken up 
to heaven; and God kept his promise. 




ISLAND OF RHODA-NILE. 




THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 



CHAPTER LXXIII. 

ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE MAID. 

There were a great many heathen people lived outside 
the land of Canaan. You know that people who worship 
idols, are called "heathen." Some of these heathen people used 
often to come into Canaan, and rob them. 

Once some of those heathen people came, and took away a 
little girl; and they sold her for a slave to wait on a rich lady in 
a country a great way off. The lady's husband was called 
Naaman. He was a great captain, and could fight well in battle. 

But Naaman was very unhappy, for he had a dreadful 
disease called the leprosy. He had very sore white places on 
his body. He could not find anybody who could cure him of 
his disease. No doctors could cure him; nor could any of the 
priests of his idols. Now the little girl who waited on his wife 
had heard of the wonders that Elisha did, and she felt sure that 
he could cure him, and said, Oh! that my master were with the 
prophet; for he would cure his leprosy. 

Somebody heard what the little girl said, and told Naaman. 
Naaman wished very much to be made well, and determined to 
go and ask Elisha to make him well. 

Elisha heard that he was coming, and knew God would help 
him to make Naaman well. He hoped when Namaan was well, 
he would worship the true God, who could do such wonders; 
for Elisha did not wish people to praise him, but he wished 
them to praise God. 

Naaman came into Canaan in a fine chariot with horses, and 

309 




NAAMAN'S CAPTIVE MAID. 



310 



ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE MAID. 311 

brought a great many servants. He was proud, and he ex- 
pected that Elisha would pay him respect, because he was so 
rich. He drove up to the door, but Elisha did not come out to 
meet him; he only sent a messenger, who said, Go and wash in 
the river of Jordan seven times; and youf flesh shall be well. 

Then Naaman was very angry, and said, I thought that the 
prophet would come out to me, and would have stood, and 
called on the name of the Lord his God, and struck his hand 
over the sore place and made me well. Besides being angry at 
this, Naaman did not like to wash in a river of Canaan; he would 
rather have washed in one of the fine large rivers of his own 
country. Naaman was so very angry that he was going home 
to his own country without washing in Jordan; but his servants 
came to persuade him to wash in Jordan. They said, If the 
prophet had desired you to do some very hard thing, would you 
not have done it, that you might have been made well? Now 
he tells you to do a very easy thing; only to wash in the river 
Jordan; and will you not do it? 

Naaman listened to what they said; he went to Jordan, and 
did so seven times, and his flesh grew as soft and smooth as 
the flesh of a child. 

Now Naaman was glad that he had done as Elisha had told 
him. Where do you think that Naaman went, when he was 
well? Did he go home immediately to his own country again? 
Oh! no; that would have been very ungrateful. He went first 
to Elisha's house, and brought all his servants with him. 

He did not feel so proud as he had done before; he did not 
expect Elisha to come out to him, but he went in; and told him 






312 ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE MAID. 

that he was sure his God was the true God, and he promised 
that he would never worship idols any more. 

Naaman wished to give Elisha some money and some beau- 
tiful things, as a reward, so he begged him to take some of the 
things he had brought with him. But Elisha would not take 
anything. He wished to show Naaman that he had not made 
him well in order to get money. 

Naaman begged Elisha very much to take something; but 
Elisha still said he would take nothing. You see that Elisha did 
not care for money. 

Then Naaman set out in his chariot to go back to his own 
country. You remember that Elisha had a servant called Ge- 
hazi. Gehazi heard his master Elisha say he would not take any- 
thing from Naaman, and Gehazi wished very much that he 
could get some of the beautiful things himself; so he thought 
of a way of getting them by telling an untruth. 

So Gehazi ran after Naaman's chariot; at last they saw him 
running, and he stopped the chariot, and got out, for he was 
afraid that something was the matter. Naaman said, Is all well? 
And Gehazi said, All is well, but there are two visitors at our 
house, very good men, who are very poor, and my master 
would l^ke some silver, and two suits of clothes, to give to 
them. 

This was not true, but Naaman did not know that Gehazi 
was telling lies; so he gave Gehazi twice as much silver, and 
put it in two bags, and gave him two suits of clothes. 

Then Gehazi went to Elisha's house to wait upon him. He 
little thought that Elisha knew of his wickedness; but there was 



ELISHA, OR THE LITTLE MAID. 3l3 

One who saw him. God told Elisha that Gehazi meant to buy 
vineyards, fields, sheep, oxen, and slaves with the money. 

Elisha said to Gehazi, Where do you come from? And 
Gehazi said, i have not been anywhere. You see that Gehazi 
told another untruth to hide his wickedness. Then Elisha said, 
Did not my heart go with thee? Let the leprosy of Naaman be 
uppn thee forever. Immediately sore white places came on 
Gehazi's skin, and he went out of Elisha's sight. Gehazi could 
not live with Elisha any more, for people who had the leprosy 
were obliged to live by themselves. 

At last Elisha died. God did not take him up to heaven in 
a chariot of fire. He died in his bed, and his spirit went to 
heaven, but his body was buried in the ground. After Elisha 
was dead, the people of Israel grew still more wicked. King 
Ahab had been a wicked king, and Ahaziah his son had been 
wicked; and the next king was wicked; there was another king, 
and he was wicked; and at last he died, and there was another 
king, and he was wicked; and there were a great many kings of 
Israel, one after the other, and they were all wicked. At last 
God determined to send a great punishment to all the people 
of Israel. 

There was a king who lived a great way off, in a country 
called Assyria. He was a heathen king, was very rich, and had 
a great many soldiers. The King of Assyria came with his sol- 
diers into the land of Canaan, and fought against the people, 
and conquered them; the soldiers got into all their towns, and 
took away all their things. 

This was the punishment God sent them at last, because' 
they would worship idols, and do many wicked things. 






CHAPTER LXXIV. 

HEZEKIAH, OR THE KING WHO TRUSTED IN GOD. 

When Solomon's son died, his son was king of Judah; and 
when he died, his son was king — and so there were a great 
many kings, one after another. At last there was a good king 




HOUSE ON THE CITY WALLS. 



called Hez-e-kiah, who lived at Jerusalem, and liked to worship 
God in the temple, and he persuaded a great many people to 
come and worship God; for Hezekiah loved God. 

The king of Assyria sent some of his soldiers to Jerusalem; 
and they brought their tents, and waited all round the city, and 
tried to get in. The walls around the city were high and 
strong, and the people shut the gates fast; still they were afraid 



314 



HEZEKIAH, OR THE KING WHO TRUSTED IN GOD. 3l5 

lest the king of Assyria's soldiers should get in at last. But 
Hezekiahknew that God could keep them from being hurt. 
One day the king of Assyria wrote a letter, and sent it to Hez- 
ekiah. It was a very wicked letter. He said: Your God can- 
not save you from the king of Assyria, who has conquered a 
great many countries: the gods of those people could not save 
them, neither can your God save you. 

Some men brought this letter to king Hezekiah, and he read 
it. He could not bear to read such wicked words against God; 
so he took it into the temple, and spread the letter before God, 
and began to pray. He said, God! Thou art the true God; 
Thou hast made heaven and earth. Other gods are only idols, 
made of wood and stone; they could not keep people from be- 
ing hurt. Oh! save us from the king of Assyria, that every- 
body may know that Thou art the only God. 

God heard Hezekiah's prayer. He sent that night His 

F 

angel to kill a great many of the people of Assyria as they lay 
in their tents. The angel did not kill them all; but the rest 
were frightened, and went back to their own country. 



CHAPTER LXXV. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR, OR THE GOLDEN IMAGE. 

At last Hezekiah died, and there was another king; and at 
last he died, and there was another king; and at last he died, 
and there was another king; and so there were a great many 
kings, one after another, and most of them were wicked. Most 
all the people in Jerusalem were wicked, and worshiped idols. 
So God sent prophets to tell them that He would not keep 
them from being hurt any more,, and that He would let some 
heathen king take them a great way off. You remember that 
the people in the other part of Canaan, who were called the 
people of Israel, had been taken away by the king of Assyria; 
and God said that the people of Judah should be taken away by 
some other king. 

At last there came a rich, proud king, called Nebuchadnez- 
zar, to fight against the people in Jerusalem. This king came 
from a country called Babylon. He had a great many soldiers, 
who got into the city, broke down the wall, and burnt many 
houses, and even burnt the beautiful temple that Solomon had 
built, and took away the golden things he had put in it. 

Nebuchadnezzar also took the king that was at Jerusalem, 
and put out both his eyes, and brought him to Babylon, and 
kept him in prison till he died. He killed a great many people, 
and he took a great many more with him to be slaves. 

They sat down by the rivers of Babylon, and wept, and they 
would not sing psalms as they u£ ed to do, but they hung their 
harps upon the willow trees that grew by the water side 

316 




NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 



317 






318 



NEBUCHADNEZZAR, OR THE GOLDEN IMAGE. 




y/fyft.wM** 1 



Nebuchadnezzar made a very large image of gold; higher 
than a tree. This image was placed out of doors, and Nebu- 
chadnezzar sent for all the judges and captains in his land, and 
for many rich people to come and see it. Nebuchadnezzar had 
made three young men, who would not worship idols, judges; 

so they were obliged to come too, 
to see the golden image. Then 
they all stood round the image, 
and a man called out, Oh! people, 
when the music begins to play, fall 
down and worship the golden 
image. Whoever does not fall 
down and worship, shall immedi- 
ately be cast into a burning fiery 
furnace. 
Very soon the music began to 
play, and then some men came to Nebuchadnezzar, and said, 
O king! live forever. There are three men who have not 
minded what you said: they never worship your gods, nor have 
they worshiped the golden image you set up. 

Then Nebuchadnezzar desired the men to be brought to 
him. He said, You do not worship the golden image I have 
set up? Next time the music is played, if you fall down and 
worship, it is well; but if not, you shall be cast into the furnace, 
and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hand? 

Then the young men answered the king, Nebuchadnez- 
zar, our God is able to deliver us. But if not, we will not wor- 
ship the golden image. Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, 
and ordered the furnace seven times hotter than usual, and had 



EASTERN WAR HORSE. 



NEBUCHADNEZZAR, OR THE GOLDEN IMAGE. 3 19 

the three young men thrown into the furnace. Then the three 
young men fell down in the midst of the flames. 

The king was astonished to see them walking about the fur- 
nace, and a man with them who looked like the Son of God. 

Nebuchadnezzar said, I see four men loose, walking in the 
midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and one of them is 
like the Son of God. 

Then the king called the young men by their names, and 
said, Oh! servants of the most high God, come forth. And 
the three young men came out of the furnace. Then all the 
judges and captains came near and looked at the young men, 
and saw that they were not the least hurt, not a hair of their 
heads were singed, nor were their clothes scorched, nor did they 
even smell of fire. Nebuchadnezzar saw that there was a God 
who c v ould deliver his servants from the burning flame; and he 
said, if any person spoke against God he should be cut to 
pieces. 



■ 









•'And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a drear* 
interpret it : and I have heard say of thee, that thou cans 
interpret it 




